In today’s globalized world, medical interpreters are an integral part of any public health system. Their role goes beyond merely communicating the doctor’s perspective; they are the channel through which the doctor’s medical know-how meets and deals with the concerns of a patient who is unable to communicate in the local language. As such, they have a multi-disciplinary role to play – they must have a significant understanding of medical terminology and languages, must be familiar with the operating procedures of a hospital, and, most importantly, must be able to communicate the substance of each sentence spoken by either the doctor or the patient.
The following seven habits can help a good medical interpreter become an excellent one:
1. Be Voracious about Research
The World Health Organization estimates that several thousand new terms are added to medical dictionaries every year. For a medical interpreter, this is a little like running on a moving treadmill; the only way to stay on top of the game is to constantly keep adding to your knowledge base. Subscribing to medical journals and having a holistic understanding of medical research is just as important for medical interpreting as it is for a doctor.
2. Analyze your Responsibilities
Medical interpreters these days must not only know the languages spoken by both the doctor and the patient, but they must also have a more than basic understanding of the medical terms themselves. It is not enough to be able to translate the name of the disease – the patient often also wants to know what the disease is.
3. Keep Current on the Latest Developments
Every year, there is significant development in every aspect of medicine, from hospital procedures to which tests are currently used to identify pathogens to the medicines, both generic and specific, used to treat these ailments. Knowing where the research is going is another essential bit of perspective for anyone involved in medical interpreting.
4. Think as Both Doctor and Patient
Patients are generally worried about three things: the precise nature of what ails them, whether (and how) it can be treated, and how much that is going to cost. Doctors have more to worry about; they need to know the patient’s medical history (including allergies, for example), be sure that the patient understands the diagnosis and treatment plan, and be able to rely on the patient to give updates on how the recovery is going. A medical interpreter is the essential link in this chain. He or she must understand both perspectives intuitively to be effective in communication.
5. Relate to the Patient as a Person
Someone who’s in a hospital in a foreign land, where the doctors don’t speak the same language, is usually slightly more concerned than normal. This brings out another facet of medical interpreting: understanding the patient socially and culturally and being able to effectively deal with his or her concerns.
6. Synergize
Doctors have an immense fund of medical knowledge at their fingertips, whereas the patient has the greatest understanding of his or her own body. An effective medical interpreter is able to bring the two bodies of knowledge together without losing information in the process. This involves being able to accurately translate the diagnosis into the patient’s language, keeping in mind the fact that sometimes, medical terms in one language have no exact translation in another. It’s not enough to be able to tell a patient that he or she has a deviated septum because of falling down the stairs; it is also imperative that the interpreter can explain the limits of rhinoplasty and have some sort of perspective on just how essential and effective this procedure is going to be. This requires empathy, a solid knowledge base and the ability to think about multiple aspects of a single situation.
7. Never Stop Learning
Whether you learn by purchasing the latest medical dictionaries and going through them cover to cover or by being a frequent subscriber of medical journals one thing is for sure: It’s just as important for a medical interpreter to be familiar with this research as it is for a doctor – sometimes even more so. Patients often want to know more than just the translated name of the disease, and having a solid understanding of medicine is essential for this. It helps if the interpreter is committed to staying updated on the latest developments; online journals, dictionaries and research papers are freely available, and following them is a must for anyone with a desire to be an effective medical interpreter.
[ photo by: a.drian, on Flickr, via CC License ]
