Medical Interpreter Institute: Day 1

What?

That was the million dollar question during last night's "Introduction to Medical Interpreting," presented by Jay Moradi-Penuel and Dr. Rachel St. John.  Held in conjunction with the Annual VRID business meeting, the Medical Institute consists of a series of workshops: Introduction to Medical Interpreting; Medical Terminology for Interpreters; Ethics & Law in a Medical Setting; Debriefing and Social Construction of Knowledge; and Teaming in a Medical Setting.  What I think is great about this workshop series is the background and experiences of the presenters (insert disclaimer: Jay and I have been friends and colleagues for years, so I may be biased):  Jay has extensive experience with medical and legal interpreting, in addition to some training as a nurse practitioner, while Rachel is a doctor as well as a certified interpreter.  I truly appreciate that both Jay and Rachel have worn many hats and are able to offer multiple perspectives- individually and collectively.

Back to the million dollar question....What....?

What information do I need before accept an assignment?

What do I need to know to protect my health?

What protective gear do I need?

What information should be "front-loaded" into the beginning of the assignment? (ex. what should be set-up before the Deaf patient goes into the MRI and can no longer see the interpreter?)

What vaccinations do I need? (In case you curious- seasonal flu, MMR, tetanus-pertussis, Hepatitis B, chicken pox as well as an annual PPD (tuberculosis) test)

What are proper hand washing techniques? (Also- when do you need to wash hands & when is hand sanitizer sufficient?)

What makes an interpreter qualified (certification is no automatic qualification)?

What are my personal boundaries and limitations?

What if [xyz] happens?

What are best practices?

How can the interpreter be part of the medical team?

As someone who has almost no experience with medical interpreting and a lot of anxiety attached to medical situations in general, this will certainly be a very informative weekend.  I certainly want to stretch my horizons and grow as an interpreter; I have been limiting myself by "not doing medical," but I need to be more educated as I carefully re-evaluate my personal boundaries and limitations.