Author Archives: ALTA Language Services
Recent Blog Posts
When the Patient is your Mother
May 11, 2018
This year, my coworker and I went to California to present at the CHIA conference. Three hours before our presentation, I got this text message from my mom: “I’m ok, but I’m in the hospital.” She’d fainted in her bathroom the night before. She hit the rim of the bathtub […]
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All the other Interpreters Do It
February 26, 2018
Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up Now and get started. I recently took an interpretation assignment at a mental health facility. Usually, I think these are assignments are challenging and fascinating, so I was excited about this particular day. When I arrived on the unit, the […]
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The Patients Who Stay with You
January 11, 2018
It’s been years since I’ve interpreted for Elena, but I can still hear her voice in my head. There are patients that just stay with you. Elena was in the hospital for weeks, and she memorized everyone’s names. Everyone’s. Every nurse, every doctor, every interpreter, every janitor, every physical therapist. […]
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Getting to know Thais Barboni do Prado
December 4, 2017
ALTA Qualified Portuguese Interpreter: Breaking Boundaries in Healthcare® alumni Tell us a little bit about the first moment you realized you were bilingual. “I remember I heard a song, and I could understand the meaning without translating it. I used to love to listen to music and translate it to […]
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Getting Your (Interpreter) Foot in the Door
November 2, 2017
Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up Now and get started. A common question from untrained interpreters is: “If I take a medical interpreter training course, can I get hired at a hospital?” The simple answer to this question is yes, but there’s a lot more to […]
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It’s Hard to Tie My Shoes
September 27, 2017
Today I worked with a patient that I’ve seen a thousand times. As a Spanish interpreter, I work with the same patients a few times a week in the emergency room for dialysis. Many of these patients have no health insurance. No documents. Not enough resources to pay the astronomical […]
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Translation Tip of the Week: Supply Great Content
September 12, 2017
So you’ve done the research to find the best translation agency for your business and have just signed off on that first project? Now is the perfect time to start laying the foundation for a productive relationship that delivers high-quality documents, on time and within the budget. This process begins […]
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How I Learned the Word Careless
August 16, 2017
Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up Now and get started. The word for liver in Spanish is always “hígado.” It’s comforting to go into an interpreting scenario with a head full of medical vocabulary in two languages. After a few months of working at a hospital, […]
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Vicarious Trauma: A Lesson in Empathy
July 20, 2017
Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up Now and get started. I worked as a medical interpreter at a level one trauma hospital for three years. In the beginning, the work felt frenetic and gratifying and new every day. But after a year or so, I started […]
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Paths to Success in Medical Interpretation: An Interview with Professional Interpreter and Breaking Boundaries in Healthcare Instructor, Stephanie Wiley
April 5, 2016
Stephanie Wiley is a professional interpreter and instructor for the Breaking Boundaries in Healthcare® course. Stephanie was kind to sit down with us and share some of her insight on medical interpretation and tips to being a successful medical interpreter. Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up […]
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