הפיזיותרפיסט קיבל את ההפניה הרפואית.

את marks the definite direct object of the verb. It does not get translated into English by itself.

So in:

הפיזיותרפיסט קיבל את ההפניה הרפואית

את ההפניה הרפואית is the thing that was received.

A very useful contrast:

• קיבל הפניה רפואית = he received a medical referral
• קיבל את ההפניה הרפואית = he received the medical referral

So את usually appears before a direct object that is definite.

The prefix ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

So:

• פיזיותרפיסט = physiotherapist
• הפיזיותרפיסט = the physiotherapist

and

• הפניה = referral
• ההפניה = the referral

Hebrew attaches the directly to the front of the word instead of writing it as a separate word like English does.

Because the base noun itself is הפניה, and then Hebrew adds another ה־ in front to mean the.

So:

• הפניה = referral
• ההפניה = the referral

This looks unusual to English speakers, but it is normal in Hebrew spelling.

Because in Hebrew, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• הפניה רפואית = medical referral
  literally: referral medical

And with definiteness:

• ההפניה הרפואית = the medical referral

This is the normal word order for noun + adjective in Hebrew.

Because the adjective has to agree with the noun it describes in gender, number, and definiteness.

The noun הפניה is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• רפואי = medical, masculine singular
• רפואית = medical, feminine singular

So:

• מסמך רפואי = a medical document
• הפניה רפואית = a medical referral

When a noun is definite in Hebrew, its adjective normally becomes definite too.

So Hebrew says:

• ההפניה הרפואית

literally: the-referral the-medical

This is different from English, where only referral takes the:

• the medical referral

In Hebrew, both parts show definiteness.

קיבל is a past tense verb, third person masculine singular.

Its dictionary form is לקבל = to receive / to get.

So קיבל means:

• he received
• he got

In this sentence, the subject is הפיזיותרפיסט, so the full sense is the physiotherapist received.

If you are studying verb patterns, קיבל is from the pi'el pattern.

Because the subject, הפיזיותרפיסט, is being treated as singular masculine, and in the past tense Hebrew verbs agree with the subject in gender and number.

So:

• הפיזיותרפיסט קיבל = the male physiotherapist received
• הפיזיותרפיסטית קיבלה = the female physiotherapist received

Notice both the profession word and the verb change when the subject is feminine.

There are two main clues:

1. Word order:
   Hebrew here uses the normal subject + verb + object order.

2. את marks the direct object:
   את ההפניה הרפואית is clearly the object.

So the structure is:

• הפיזיותרפיסט = subject
• קיבל = verb
• את ההפניה הרפואית = direct object

A rough pronunciation is:

ha-fiz-yo-te-ra-PIST ki-BEL et ha-haf-na-YA ha-re-fu-IT

A few notes:

• קיבל has stress on the last syllable: ki-BEL
• ההפניה is roughly ha-haf-na-YA
• רפואית is roughly re-fu-IT, often with a slight break before the last part

You do not need a perfect accent right away, but it helps to notice that Hebrew stress is often near the end of the word.

Yes, but the given order is the most neutral and natural one in modern Hebrew:

• הפיזיותרפיסט קיבל את ההפניה הרפואית.

You can move parts around for emphasis, for example:

• את ההפניה הרפואית קיבל הפיזיותרפיסט.

That sounds more marked, like It was the medical referral that the physiotherapist received or with special emphasis on the object.

So the original sentence is the best basic model to learn first.

No. הפניה can mean referral more generally, or directing/sending someone somewhere, depending on context.

But in the phrase:

• הפניה רפואית

it very specifically means medical referral, which is a common fixed expression in Hebrew.

So in this sentence, that is the natural meaning.