interpreter ethics

One of my most difficult medical interpreter moments part 4

A worker suffered a rotator cuff injury. Rotator cuffs can be especially painful and often take a long time to heal. As a healthcare interpreter, I have seen patients who excessively protect their injury. The arm becomes stiff and cannot be raised. Typically, they must sedate him and manipulate the arm. In layperson terms, rip […]

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Virtual Meetings and Events Define the 2020s

Two thousand twenty – the year of the virtual meeting! Whatever sectors had been resisting technology were suddenly thrust into it. Sometimes change is gradual; it can also be abrupt and forceful. When quarantine mandates occurred in March of 2020, all interpreting and consulting work came to a swift halt. We had no idea when

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woman swimming in the pool

Difficult Medical Interpreter Moments Part 3B (Turning Point)

On this occasion, the doctor entered the room and ask the patient if he was a citizen of these United States of America. In an appropriate and humble manner, the patient responded that although he was not a citizen of the United States, he was a permanent resident with the paperwork to prove it. The

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One of my Most Difficult Medical Interpreter Moments Part 2

A flagger worker was hit by a car. He suffered a broken arm and leg. I was called in to interpret for this patient. Eventually, the doctor determined that surgery would be needed to install a metal brace to keep a leg bone in place. Surgery was scheduled at an outpatient surgery center which required

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colleagues looking at documents

Should the interpreter help the patient fill out medical forms and history?

Often, it is expected that medical interpreters will help a patient complete medical questionnaires and patient history. Some interpreters have no problem doing such tasks; others view it as beyond the scope of their practice. Whether or not an interpreter helps a patient to fill out medical documents in history depends more on company policy

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mistake, error, facepalm

Watch out for medical interpreting errors

A simple error by a medical interpreter could be catastrophic. If a doctor or a patient were to misunderstand the dialog, mistakes could be made in the decision-making process. This is another reason why I constantly advocate for the use of professional certified interpreters. It is very common for inexperienced interpreters to make mistakes by

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patient care, white male, 3d model

Three modes of interpretation for medical interpreters

I have spoken about this in the past, but I believe this is worth considering once again. Healthcare interpreters need to be proficient and the three modes of interpretation. What are they and when are they needed? 1 Consecutive Interpreting By far the most common and preferred method of interpreting for medical interpreters is consecutive

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industry technology design pipe

Conduits of Communication? Part 4

As we have considered so far in this series of articles, a conduit of communication is simply a machine, a robot. Although I understand the purpose is to keep healthcare interpreters neutral and unbiased, people are not machines. People are complicated, and so are the roles of the professional interpreter. In addition to being professional

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industry technology design pipe

Conduits of communication? Part 3

How has the concept of the medical interpreters simply serving as a conduit of communication affected the relationship between the medical professionals and interpreters? For many years now, interpreters and medical professionals have been taught that the role of the medical interpreter is to serve only as conduits of information. They are to remain invisible,

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What are Interpreter Fees Really?

This week we feature a relevant guest post from our esteemed conference interpreter colleague, Tony Rosado. Dear Colleagues: The following post first appeared on the website of the International Association of Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI). I wrote it for members of the association, but I believe it is also relevant to this blog: There seems

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