Medical interpreting problems are often caused by bilinguals who are untrained in medical concepts and language interpreting.

Indeed, it’s a point we have emphasized for years in this blog: being bilingual is not enough to be a successful medical interpreter.

In healthcare situations, the stakes are especially high -- so care facilities need to find skilled interpreters and avoid taking on unqualified ones. This requires a careful selection process – and why wouldn’t it?

As translation and interpreting expert Esther Diaz explains on the American Translators Association website: “’When seeking a new doctor, you talk to doctors you trust and other patients who have a similar health condition and ask if they can recommend a qualified physician. Why not approach the search for a qualified interpreter with the same care? Don’t gamble on picking a name out of the yellow pages.”

She proposes pertinent guidelines for finding the right healthcare interpreter. Her recommended screening process is rigorous, and includes assessing a candidate’s language ability, mastery of medical terminology, as well as understanding of interpreting protocol.

If an establishment is not equipped to carry out this six-step assessment system, she suggests turning to external language service providers to carry out the screening.

At Language Translation, Inc. we specialize in medical language services, specifically Spanish medical translation. We can provide your health care facility with skilled and screened language interpreters. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.