Describe a person you know who would like to work in the medical field
IELTS Speaking Part 2 cue card with a full sample answer, a Band 9 model of the two-minute long turn.
The cue card
Describe a person you know who would like to work in the medical field
You should say:
- how you know them
- what they would like to do
- when they started to think about that
- why they would like to choose this career
Sample answer
I'd like to describe a person I know who is determined to work in the medical field — my younger sister, who dreams of becoming a doctor.
She's two years younger than me, so naturally I've known her all my life and have watched this ambition of hers grow and strengthen over the years. We're very close, and she often shares her hopes and plans with me.
What she would specifically like to do is become a surgeon, ideally specialising in cardiology, which is the treatment of heart conditions. It's an incredibly demanding and competitive field, but she's absolutely set on it and is currently working extremely hard at her studies to make it a reality.
She first started thinking about this career when she was around twelve years old. The turning point came when our grandfather fell seriously ill and had to undergo heart surgery. She was deeply affected by the experience, but she was also amazed and inspired by the skill and compassion of the doctors who treated him and, ultimately, saved his life. From that moment on, she knew exactly what she wanted to do.
There are several reasons why she's drawn to this career. Above all, she has a genuine desire to help people and to make a real difference in their lives, which is at the very core of her personality. She also finds the science of the human body utterly fascinating and loves the intellectual challenge that medicine offers. On top of that, she's attracted to the respect and job security that the profession brings.
Personally, I admire her enormously for this ambition. Pursuing a career in medicine requires years of gruelling study and immense dedication, and I have no doubt she has the determination and compassion to succeed. I feel genuinely proud of her, and I'm confident that one day she'll become an excellent and caring doctor who truly helps others.
318 words — roughly 2–3 minutes at a natural speaking pace.
Reading a model answer is not the same as saying one. The sample above shows what a strong Part 2 answer sounds like. What it cannot tell you is how yours sounds — whether you hesitate, repeat the question back, or run out of things to say at forty seconds.
You can record an answer to this exact question and get it marked on fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and pronunciation — the same four criteria the examiner uses.
Common questions
How long should I speak for in Part 2?
Between one and two minutes. The examiner stops you at two, so aim to still be talking at the ninety-second mark rather than finishing early — running out at forty seconds is the most common problem in this part.
What do I do with the one minute of preparation time?
You get one minute and a pencil and paper. Most candidates waste it writing full sentences they then read aloud, which sounds flat. Note a few keywords against each bullet instead, so you have four things to say and can speak naturally from them.
Do I have to cover all four bullet points?
They are prompts, not a checklist, and you are not penalised for skipping one. In practice they are the easiest way to fill two minutes, so covering them is usually the simplest way to keep going.
Does it matter if the story is not true?
No. You are assessed on your English, not on whether the events happened. Inventing detail is fine and often easier than recalling a real memory under pressure.
Model answers written and reviewed by The English All-in-One IELTS team. They are teaching models showing what each band looks like, not real candidate scripts.