Key Quality of a Good Medical Interpreting Service

(Last Updated On: April 29, 2015)

Quality medical interpreting service


In the field of interpretation, one important subset is the medical interpreting service that is important in the field of medicine. An interpreter for this kind should have substantial knowledge of the field with the right terminology to be used. medical interpreters are expected to translate basic terms from x-ray and asthma to special words like sickle cell anemia and nuclear stress test.

It is very important that the privacy of the patient is taken with the utmost respect. The doctor and the interpreter should be aware that any conversation with the patient is considered confidential. It is the responsibility of the interpreter to interpret what the doctor needs to convey to the patient and should be done without disclosure of what has been said except for the patient alone unless given the right by the patient to disclose to family members and/or friends.

In emergencies, an interpreter providing medical interpreting service may find it difficult to interpret because most of the time, these interpreters do not work 24 hours in a health care institution. They are only called upon when a patient would require one. In such a case, when treatment should be done immediately and the patient or the family members are not capable of understanding the language of the doctors and staff, an interpreter should give way to attend to an emergency call for this purpose. In addition, if ever the interpreter cannot do it during the time of the call; he or she makes it a point to go over the following day.

It is always expected that an interpreter show respect and courtesy to clients and a medical interpreting service is not exempted from this. The interpreter should also coordinate with all the medical staff, from the doctors through the appointment schedulers assigned in the institution or office not to mention the patient himself.

Patience is a virtue that interpreters must have in the field of medical interpreting service, because there could be times that they will have to wait for their time to speak. A medical interpreter for any reason is not required to give his or her opinion regarding the case of a patient nor have the option to agree or disagree with the result. The only thing the interpreter is expected to do is to translate and interpret the exact conversation.

Choose an interpreter who has experience in the medical field. Getting their services is not costly. You can easily hire a medical interpreting service for such a type of job. Usually, it is the patient’s requirement that these medical interpreters are called for.

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