The IELTS Exam For Medical Professionals: Do Doctors And Nurses Need To Take The IELTS Exam?
Being able to communicate with and understand one’s patients is obviously a vital component of being effective in the medical field. Medical professionals who reside in non-native speaking countries often wonder if they will need to take some language proficiency test to prove their ability to speak in English, if they decide to practice in an English country.
Do Medical Professionals Have To Take The IELTS Test?
If you are a medical professional who happens to be a non-native speaker of English, you might need to take the IELTS test for a number of reasons. Firstly, you might need to take the IELTS for medical licensing. IELTS tests for medical licenses are a common requirement for a skilled migrant visa. This applies to a number of different medical professions, such as pharmacists, nurses, doctors, physical therapists, speech-language, and pathologists. It is a general rule that if you have completed your medical study in a medium other than English, you must take the IELTS exam if you wish to practice or work in another country.
Which IELTS Test Do Medical Professionals Take
It might surprise you to know that unlike other skilled workers seeking entry to English-speaking countries, medical professionals have to take the IELTS academic exam and not the general training exam. The IELTS academic covers all the requirements for professional registration and can be used for obtaining your medical license to practice and your visa application. This makes it more convenient for applicants since they don’t have to take separate exams, i.e. the academic exam for licensing and the general exam for immigration.
What IELTS Band Scores Do Medical Professionals Need?
The IELTS requirements for doctors are set by the governments of English-speaking countries like the US and Australia, the average score required ranges from 6.0 to 7.5. for example, the US requires a minimum score of 6 for professional nurses, and a minimum score of 7.5 doctors.
It is also important to note that there might condition made on minimum requirements for individual components, such as you might need a minimum of 6 in each individual component.
Generally, the score requirements for different medical professions are similar throughout various English-speaking countries, since they all hold these professions to the same high standards.
If you are thinking of shifting your practice abroad, then you will probably need to prove your language skills by taking the IELTS exam. This requires more than just having good English communication skills. My advice would be to enroll in a course in order to learn the pertinent exam techniques and strategies in order to ace the exam. It would be a shame to lose out on your dream job in your dream destination simply because of ignorance.