Today, it is obvious that awareness about medical services has increased considerably as a consequence of the worldwide situation that we have been experiencing. This has made us take greater notice of the elements making up the medical industry and the needs of those who carry out their worthwhile work in it, as well as the users themselves. From our perspective as a translation agency, we dedicated an article to analyzing the most requested set of linguistic services in hospitals and medical centers, especially focusing on translating medical documents and the interlinguistic mediation between patients and medical professionals (i.e., interlinguistic interpretation or sign language interpretation). Without a doubt, it was clear that in a hospital, where there is a large influx of persons who arrive because of some sort of emergency situation or want to make specialized consultations. This is why communication between doctors and their patients is fundamental in order to achieve the expected results. However, in these environments, linguistic barriers may appear since sometimes patients in a hospital cannot speak the language(s) that is(are) used the most in the territory in which medical attention is needed (i.e., migrants, tourists, international students, etc.). Precisely for this reason, it is fundamental for these centers to have human resources suitable to guarantee a quality interlinguistic and multicultural mediation, something that is achieved by contracting professional medical interpretation services.
As is known, medical interpretation is the interlinguistic mediation activity by which an oral text expressed in one language is translated into another different language through a likewise oral channel. Of course, and as we explained in other articles, the qualities required of a professional interpreter have points in common with all the specialties, but each field has some inherent traits that the professional must take into account in order to adhere to the needs of specific communicative situations and the expectations of the speakers. Thus, in medical interpretation, both parties expect their messages to be understood and reproduced with precision, without omissions and respecting each register (not translating all the symptoms experiences by a patient or not explaining the specific motive that may have given rise to the entire process and leaving grave information gaps). In this same vein, the interpreter should have a mastery of both languages that, without being confused for being bilingual, refers to the capacity to be able to quickly change from one language to another with the immediate nature characterized by this type of linguistic exchanges, which are produced in real time and normally require an escort or simultaneous interpretation. Likewise, they must know how to use the specific terminology of the specialty, knowing the technicalities and expressions belonging to the interactions in the hospital environment, once again, in order to guarantee precision in the interpretation process. Moreover, these types of professionals must be highly aware of the confidentiality that must be respected when working with patients’ personal data, since disclosing it may be considered a crime. Furthermore, they must be prepared to work under pressure since the rhythm in hospitals is demanding and they will face endless situations that are unexpected or difficult to handle (interpreting for someone who is experiencing great pain, dealing with persons in a state of shock or communicating unpleasant news, for example). Ethics in medical interpretation services is a highly analyzed topic, but, essentially, asserting the need to be informed about the cultural differences of the speakers the languages of which are being translated and knowing how to make professional decisions oriented towards completing the job being performed. For this reason, interpreters must have excellent interpersonal communication skills, which are necessary for face-to-face contact.
Thus, it might seem like a highly specific and long list of qualities, but if we take into account the risks to which a medical center is exposed, we can understand perfectly that they are required to have a high level of training. This is because an incorrect interpretation or the absence of this type of linguistic services can cause different errors throughout the health care system. If a doctor does not correctly understand the symptoms exhibited by the patient, they will have less resources when making a diagnosis or choosing the tests necessary to detect possible ailments, something that tends to happen when medical histories are not translated perfectly. Of course, the patient has every right to receive a detailed explanation of what their diagnosis is, what the causes are and, as if it could be any other way, the treatment that they must follow. If one of these aspects fails, the patient will find themselves in a disadvantageous situation which, in the long term, is related to a higher re-entry rate, as well as considerably increasing their stress levels, since they will be unable to communicate in a situation in which they are the most susceptible.
However, nowadays many hospitals and medical centers still have difficulty accessing this type of services. Many of them have tight budgets and must decide to allocate it in another direction, or there may be a lack of qualified professionals for specific and infrequent language pairs. This is why it is fundamental to keep raising awareness about the importance of interlinguistic mediation services as well as specialized training services in order to achieve higher-quality results.
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