Event Report (Interpreter Training: Medical Edition)

Interpreter training: medical

On Saturday, March 8th, a practical training seminar on medical interpretation was held in the audiovisual room of Sagamihara City Library, with Miki Koukou, vice president of the Japan Association of Public Interpreters, as the lecturer.

At the training session, there was a lecture on the basics and mindset required for medical interpreting, and in the second half, participants were divided into groups based on language (English, Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, French) and participated in role-playing based on simulated medical interpreting situations.

The characteristics of medical interpreting are (1) to accurately convey the patient's complaints (symptoms and feelings) to medical staff, (2) to paraphrase the explanations of the doctor or nurse so that the patient can understand, and (3) to translate and convey instructions during tests to the patient in a timely manner, and in this case, linguistic expression skills (vocabulary, grammar, etc.), non-verbal expression skills (body language, eye contact, etc.), and vocal expression skills (pronunciation, vocalization, articulation, etc.) are essential. He also said that it is also necessary to gather information in advance about the cause of the patient's pathology (infection, congenital abnormality, tumor, allergy, etc.) and the location (digestive system, musculoskeletal system, circulatory system, respiratory system), etc.

In the role-play, under the guidance of Dr. Miki, participants were divided into groups based on language and played the roles of foreign patients, doctors, and interpreters, simulating the actual medical interpreting situation, learning how to respond appropriately when actually performing medical interpretation. Almost all of the participants in the training session had no experience, so they were keenly aware of the difficulties of medical interpretation, but their earnest attitude in taking on the role-play was very impressive.

During the Q&A session, participants asked questions such as what to do if you come across a word or technical term you don't understand while interpreting, what to do if an unexpected incident occurs while interpreting at the hospital, etc. Dr. Miki answered these questions in detail and with great care.

Last year, the number of foreign residents in Sagamihara City exceeded 20,000 for the first time. In light of this situation, Sagamihara International Lounge is recruiting volunteer interpreters and translators who can work in the medical field, as well as in education, life support, disaster prevention, and international exchange. In addition, we hold practical interpreter training sessions twice a year, one for education and one for medicine. If you are interested in interpreting, please join us.