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So here is the provocative question. You got an “A” in your high school Spanish class. Does that make you a medical interpreter? Many times, we have a basic understanding of another language and feel confident that we can communicate in that language. We also feel that even if we are not skilled in speaking…
Do you know that there are different styles of interpretation? What is simultaneous interpretation? What is consecutive interpretation? Which one is better in a clinical encounter? What are the tradeoffs? Which is the preferred method in a clinical encounter when you are pressed for time? VJ Periyakoil, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine. Tweet to…
Take a guess! Do doctors speak in low register or high register? Should the medical interpreter alter the register during translation to make sure the patient understands? Or, should they pause and ask the doctor to restate the information at a lower register? VJ Periyakoil, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine. Tweet to us: @palliator
Medical interpreters (MI) report feeling like intruders in some clinical encounters. I have talked to numerous MIs and they are a bit baffled by how some clinicians try to talk in English to patients who do not speak English! Busy clinicians are often wary of anything that might increase the encounter time with patients. That…
What should the medical interpreter do during the clinical encounter? Should they pick and choose in terms of what information they translate and what they withhold? Should they omit certain aspects of what the clinician says? What should the interpreter do if one clinician disagrees with another during the clinical encounter? Should they interpret arguments…