MEDICAL

INTERPRETATION
Alyssa Beehler
PowerPoint footnotes (Story)
• In 1999, a two-year old Latina girl came to a
Massachusetts ER complaining of shoulder pain.
• Trying to explain what happened, the mom said her
daughter “se pegó, se pegó”
• Doctors interpreted that as “she was hit” like by
another person
• Previous discharge papers documented said she
had fractured her collarbone just two months prior.
• The hospital suspected child abuse, and called the
Department of Social Services (DSS) because they
are required to by law if it is suspected
• Mother was interviewed WITHOUT an interpreter and
concluded her two kids were not safe at home and
the girl and her four-year old brother were taken
and placed in DSS custody
• Two hours later the mother was interviewed WITH a
certified interpreter present
• It was discovered that the little girl fell off a tricycle
onto her shoulder and several days later, the mother
was able to regain custody of her two kids
 WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
• 2019 – US census data
• Total population of US over 5 years of age: 308,834,688
• Speak language other than English: 67,802,345
• Spanish: 41,757,391
• Vocabulary
• Medicamentar – prescribe or administer meds
• Medicina – medicine or medication
• Medicamento – physical medication
• Medicación – process of administration
• Cultural differences
• Example: Mothers in Ecuador are unmedicated during labor and delivery because
that is what is expected of them
• Example: Removal of an item of clothing or other sacred emblem
 STRATEGIES
• Cultural mediation: “the act of addressing a cultural understanding” (162).
• Not familiar with terms or phrases
• Provider’s specialty
• 5 steps
• Interpret what was just said or signed
• Identify yourself as the interpreter
• Mediate briefly
• Continue interpreting
• NEVER try to explain the cultural difference
• Instead, speak up and say you are concerned there may be something the
patient does not understand
 TERMS
La ingle Groin
La pantorrilla Calf
Los músculos isquiotibialis Hamstrings
El peroné Fibula
El periné Perineum
Los glóbulos rojos/blancos Red/white blood cells
La crisis epiléptica Epileptic seizure
La ampolla Blister
La obstrucción Block/blockage
La miopia Nearsightedness
 TERMS
La vacuna de refuerzo Booster shot
La protuberancia Bump
El yeso Cast
El cuello del útero Cervix
El paladar hendido Cleft palate
El herpes labial Cold sores
El daltonismo Color-blindness
La enfermedad de Crohn Chron’s disease
La tomografía computada CT scan
El estetoscopio Stethoscope
 RESOURCES
• The Medical Interpreter: A foundation Textbook for Medical
Interpreting
• https://www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org/
• https://cchicertification.org/
• https://www.proz.com/
• https://www.medicalspanish.com/
• https://dle.rae.es/
• https://www.iqb.es/
• https://www.imiaweb.org/resources/medicalterminology.asp
 REFERENCES
Hoffman, Adam. “Millions of Americans Are Getting Lost in Translation During Hospital Visits.”
Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 28 Sept. 2015,
www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/millions-americans-are-getting-lost-translation-during-
hospital-visits-180956760/.

Bancroft, M.A., García-Beyaert, S., Allen, K., Carriero-Contreras, G., & Socarrás-Estrada, D.
(2016). The Medical Interpreter: A Foundation Textbook for Medical Interpreting. (M.A. Bancroft,
Ed.). Columbia, Maryland: Culture & Language Press.

https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=Language%20Spoken%20at%20Home&g=0100000US&
tid=ACSST1Y2019.S1601&hidePreview=true