Why Would A Nurse Choose The IELTS Exam?
Since October 2019, international healthcare professionals have only needed one test for their regulators (GMC for Doctors and NMC for Nurses and Midwives) and to satisfy the English language requirements for their Tier 2 visa application for the UK. This test can either be the IELTS or the OET. On our YouTube Channel, we've discussed the differences between the two at length and in this update, we'd like to explore why the IELTS route is still a great choice for nurses. You see the IELTS is a widely used and highly regarded Cambridge English exam and it is highly academic. Like most academic exams, it requires you to demonstrate a breadth of knowledge and some familiarity with politics, economics, history and anthropology. This ability to access this range of subject matter would be undoubtedly helpful in an English-speaking country, especially because it makes it easier for you to be able to connect with your patients on topics outside of their diagnosis and care. This ideal is reinforced in your requirements. For example, the text for IELTS Reading come from a wide range of sources like books, journals, magazines and (usually centre-left or left wing) newspapers. The topics are all non-specialist and the texts may be descriptive or discursive. When engaging with these texts or responding to a question that requires you to elaborate on your opinion or point of view in English, you are – by necessity – building your skills in the language and learning to express yourself. These are skills that will undoubtedly serve you well as you interact with your patients, colleagues and friends as you build your nursing career here in the UK. As you specialise in healthcare, your depth of healthcare knowledge and Medical English will continue to grow. This needn’t, however, come at the expense of the neglect of your knowledge outside of your specialist field of interest. The IELTS is a vehicle for pursuit of a plethora of information across a variety of subjects that will likely assist in helping you become a more well-rounded person and practitioner.
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