The candidate card
Setting
Emergency department discharge clinic
Candidate
In this original independent practice scenario, you are an emergency doctor discussing discharge with Mr Ashley Concannon, aged 46, whose CT scan shows a small stone in the tube draining his kidney; his kidney function is satisfactory, his pain has settled with treatment and assessment has found no evidence of infection. The treating team's individual plan is home observation with prescribed pain relief and anti-sickness medicine, drinking water regularly to stay hydrated, and a urology appointment to review stone passage and whether further treatment is needed; the discharge team will confirm that appointment before he leaves. He requests antibiotics, although these treat bacterial infection rather than remove a stone, and the team has not identified an indication for them. General safety advice is to return promptly to the emergency department for fever or shivering, uncontrolled pain, persistent vomiting or inability to pass urine; confirm that none has developed before discharge, and continue any further clinical assessment after this focused conversation.
Task (interlocutor: patient)
- Find out how Mr Concannon feels now and what he expects antibiotics to do
- Explain the stone finding and the team's proposed home-management approach
- Address his request for antibiotics using the current assessment without guaranteeing that infection cannot develop
- Agree the discharge and urology follow-up arrangements, checking his understanding of symptoms requiring urgent reassessment
In the test you get 3 minutes to read the card and plan, then about 5 minutes to talk. This card is original, written for this site; the interlocutor's card is not shown.
Prepare this card, then say it out loud.
Plan your opening and the tasks below. Keep these notes when you move to the AI role-play.
In this original independent practice scenario, you are an emergency doctor discussing discharge with Mr Ashley Concannon, aged 46, whose CT scan shows a small stone in the tube draining his kidney; his kidney function is satisfactory, his pain has settled with treatment and assessment has found no evidence of infection. The treating team's individual plan is home observation with prescribed pain relief and anti-sickness medicine, drinking water regularly to stay hydrated, and a urology appointment to review stone passage and whether further treatment is needed; the discharge team will confirm that appointment before he leaves. He requests antibiotics, although these treat bacterial infection rather than remove a stone, and the team has not identified an indication for them. General safety advice is to return promptly to the emergency department for fever or shivering, uncontrolled pain, persistent vomiting or inability to pass urine; confirm that none has developed before discharge, and continue any further clinical assessment after this focused conversation.
Getting your plan ready…
Preparation is free without an account. AI conversation and marking need sign-in; your first role-play is free. Notes are saved on this device when available. This checklist is your plan, not a score.
How to approach this card
- Start by checking how he feels now and whether any of the listed discharge warning symptoms has developed; settled pain earlier does not establish his present condition. Then ask what he hopes antibiotics would achieve, rather than assuming he misunderstands infection.
- Use the scan finding to locate the small stone in the tube draining his kidney. Link the proposed home observation to his settled pain, satisfactory kidney function and assessment finding no infection, without turning these findings into a guarantee about future events.
- Explain that antibiotics treat bacterial infection and do not remove this stone; the team has not identified an indication for them. His likely worry may be leaving without enough treatment, so explore that possibility rather than giving an unsolicited lecture about antibiotic misuse.
- Present pain relief, anti-sickness medicine and regular water drinking as the team's proposed support during observation. Avoid predicting when the stone will pass or prescribing fluid volumes; neither the stone's exact measurements nor a drinking target is provided.
- Close by making the urology appointment concrete: the discharge team must confirm it before he leaves. If time is limited, prioritise current symptoms, all return precautions and confirmed follow-up; ask him to explain the plan back rather than simply agreeing that discharge sounds acceptable.
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- It is reasonable to want a clear explanation before going home.
- Does leaving hospital feel comfortable, or is something still troubling you?
- Which part would you like me to explain more clearly?
- You can ask questions before we finalise the arrangements.
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| CT scan | A scan that produces detailed pictures inside the body. |
| kidney function | How well your kidneys are working. |
| urology | The specialist service for problems affecting the urinary system. |
How this card is marked
Two assessors mark the recording on nine criteria: intelligibility, fluency, appropriateness of language and resources of grammar and expression (each 0–6), then relationship building, understanding and incorporating the patient's perspective, providing structure, information gathering and information giving (each 0–3). See the AI Speaking practice guide for what each criterion looks for.
More Medicine role-play cards
- Palpitations under assessment: explain testing and uncertainty General practice
- Advanced pancreatic cancer: discuss disclosure and patient preferences Palliative outpatient clinic
- New type 2 diabetes: reluctant to start medication General practice
All sets: nurses, doctors, other professions. Your profession's guide: OET Medicine.
Questions about this role-play
What if he asks whether he will need an operation?
Do not make either outcome certain. Explain that the urology review will assess whether the stone has passed and whether further treatment is needed. Avoid describing procedures or assigning a likelihood without supporting details. [Healthdirect](https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/conditions/kidney-and-urinary-problems/kidney-stones) describes treatment as dependent on the individual assessment.
How should I explain the purpose of follow-up?
Explain that the urology review will assess whether the stone has passed and whether further treatment is needed.
Exactly what should prompt a return to the emergency department?
Tell him to return promptly for fever or shivering, uncontrolled pain, persistent vomiting or inability to pass urine. Present the whole list together, without suggesting he must experience several symptoms before returning. He should not wait for his urology appointment if any of these occurs.
Sources
Last checked 22 Oct 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm on the official page before you book or apply.
OETAce is an independent practice site. OET is a registered trademark of Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment (CBLA); we are not affiliated with or endorsed by CBLA. All practice material here is original.