How Do I Become a Medical Translator?

There are four items required to become a medical translator: excellent command of English, oral and writing skills in another language, health industry training, and certification. A medical translator is responsible for actively participating in confidential patient discussions and providing both parties with clear, direct communication. A medical translator is a more challenging role than a standard language translator, as there is both a language and cultural barrier that must be crossed.

As a medical translator, you are expected to do more that provide a technical translation. Any communication must be completely understood by both the medical staff and the client. There are nuances and assumptions in medical discussions that must be reviewed and translated with care. In some circumstances, the translator may need to act in a patient advocacy role, providing the context, consequences and risks in multiple communications to ensure that the impact of the information is completely understood.

In order to become a medical translator, you must have a higher than average level of skill in both written and oral communication. There are several post-secondary educational level programs available on a part-time basis to sharpen and enhance English communication skills. When looking at this type of program, make sure that the class size in small and the instructor experienced in training translators. Many employers will ask candidates to complete an English language proficiency examination as part of the application process to become a medical translator.

Hi mimi Amazing topic !! Thank you so much indeed. I dare say it's not that easy, I've tried to translate some texts in biology for some friends but it wasn't easy at all Sometimes you even need to have some knowledge concerning the field

you are right sassy..when i was in the campus,my friend used to give me texts to translate,but they are not easy to be translated the way she wants i.e some words can have special meanings according to the field .
Thanks for your comment

The worst thing is when they look at you sceptical as if they wanna tell you :"you don't know anything about English " At that moment I just wanna ..... But at this end I just take it easy...