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When the Patient is your Mother

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 as she fell and broke […]

All the other Interpreters Do It

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 assignments are challenging and fascinating, so I was excited about this particular day. When I arrived at the unit, the tech said, “Oh, you must be […]

The Patients Who Stay with You

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. She endeared herself to every […]

It’s Hard to Tie My Shoes

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 cost of weekly dialysis out […]

How I Learned the Word Careless

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, I started to memorize the […]

Vicarious Trauma: A Lesson in Empathy

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 to feel anxious and less […]

Paths to Success in Medical Interpretation: An Interview with Professional Interpreter and Breaking Boundaries in Healthcare Instructor, Stephanie Wiley

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 for being a successful medical interpreter. Are you interested in becoming a medical interpreter? Sign up Now and get started. How […]

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