The candidate card
Setting
General practice
Candidate
This is original independent practice; all patient-specific details are fictional. You are a GP seeing Ms Safiya Shehu, aged 65, who reports two episodes of light vaginal spotting during the past fortnight after many years without periods. She reports no current heavy bleeding or acute illness, and the cause has not been established. You recommend an urgent gynaecology referral, but she is embarrassed and wants to wait because the spotting has stopped.
Task (interlocutor: patient)
- Find out about the bleeding, relevant medicine use and her reasons for wanting to wait
- Explain why bleeding after menopause needs investigation even when it is light and has stopped, describing possible causes without diagnosing cancer
- Explain the specialist pathway and possible examinations, ultrasound and tissue sampling in plain language
- Address her embarrassment and examination concerns, discussing consent, a chaperone and preferences for the examining clinician
- Agree a referral and follow-up plan, including how she will receive appointment information and whom to contact if symptoms worsen
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.
This is original independent practice; all patient-specific details are fictional. You are a GP seeing Ms Safiya Shehu, aged 65, who reports two episodes of light vaginal spotting during the past fortnight after many years without periods. She reports no current heavy bleeding or acute illness, and the cause has not been established. You recommend an urgent gynaecology referral, but she is embarrassed and wants to wait because the spotting has stopped.
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 with what makes waiting preferable for her, rather than treating embarrassment as the whole explanation. A likely concern is loss of dignity or control; ask which part of an examination or referral feels most difficult.
- Clarify the bleeding and medicine history before explaining the recommendation. Keep the absence of current heavy bleeding separate from the unanswered cause; the usual trap is allowing stopped spotting to become reassurance that investigation is unnecessary.
- Explain urgency as a need to establish the cause, not a cancer diagnosis. Present possible causes as possibilities rather than findings, and avoid choosing a likely explanation before the recommended investigation has taken place.
- Describe the specialist pathway in manageable stages, checking consent before discussing intimate examinations. Explain ultrasound and possible tissue sampling without presenting every investigation as inevitable; distinguish a chaperone's presence from her preferences about who examines her.
- Protect time to agree how appointment information will arrive, how follow-up will occur and what happens if she hears nothing. Confirm her understanding of the referral's purpose and provide clear contact and escalation advice before ending.
Phrases to adapt
Use your own words; these show the register, not lines to memorise.
- Thank you for telling me about something so personal.
- You can ask for an explanation before deciding about any examination.
- What would help you feel more comfortable discussing this?
- Would you like me to go over any part more slowly?
Medical words in plain English
| Term | How you might say it to the patient |
|---|---|
| Postmenopausal bleeding | Vaginal bleeding or spotting after periods have stopped because of menopause. |
| Ultrasound | A scan that uses sound waves to make pictures inside your body. |
| Tissue sampling | Taking a small piece of tissue so it can be examined in a laboratory. |
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.
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All sets: nurses, doctors, other professions. Your profession's guide: OET Medicine.
Questions about this role-play
What if she asks me to promise an appointment date?
Do not invent a waiting-time target or guarantee access to her preferred clinician. Explain that you will mark the referral urgent and confirm the service's actual arrangements. Record her preferences clearly, while checking whether insisting on a particular clinician could affect access.
What if she agrees to referral but declines an intimate examination?
Treat these as separate decisions. Explore whether she wants more explanation, a different clinician or a chaperone, and respect her decision. Document what she accepts and declines, communicate relevant preferences in the referral, and avoid promising that the specialist can complete the assessment without any examination.
What should the advice about symptoms while waiting include?
Call 000 for heavy or uncontrolled bleeding, fainting, collapse, severe abdominal or pelvic pain, chest pain, or breathing difficulty. Do not drive yourself or wait for the referral. Contact the GP promptly for recurrent spotting, other pain, fever, unusual discharge or feeling unwell. See [emergency guidance](https://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/who-call-help) and [bleeding guidance](https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/conditions/female-health/vaginal-bleeding).
Sources
Last checked 22 Oct 2026. Rules and prices change: confirm on the official page before you book or apply.
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