2011 - New career opportunities for medical interpreters

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The demand for medical interpreters is expected to increase even more when new standards go into effect on January 1, 2011 requiring healthcare organizations to provide an interpreter to patients who speak limited English.

Federal laws have been on the books for years requiring medical institutions to provide interpreters to non-native speakers, but there has been little enforcement of the provisions until recently. Now the Joint Commission, which accredits and certifies more than 18,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States, is establishing new standards effective in January requiring hospitals to provide language interpreting and translation services.

The new provisions are expected to further fuel the demand for medical interpreters, which were already in short supply. Even before the new standards were introduced, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted jobs for interpreters and translators would grow by 22 percent over the next decade, faster than the average for all other occupations. Meanwhile a nationwide survey of 4,700 doctors, conducted by the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change, found that only 55.8 percent of practices with non-English speaking patients provide interpreting services, and 40 percent offer patient-education materials in languages other than English.

Medicaid currently reimburses the medical provider for the services of an interpreter. Depending on the state, a medical interpreter can make $25 to $50 an hour. In the private sector, they can command upwards of $100 an hour.
In order to be effective, medical interpreters must not only be fluent in a second language but also know a great deal of medical terminology, have good memory recall, understand ethics and cultural sensitivities, and be accurate and precise in interpreting and translating medical information. They also cannot omit or filter information exchanged between a doctor and a patient.

Beginning in 2011, Wake Forest University will offer a new MA in Interpreting and Translation Studies with three tracks, including the Intercultural Services in Healthcare option -- the first such specialization in the United States -- which prepares graduates for managerial careers in areas of culture-sensitive healthcare delivery. Another track, Teaching of Interpreting, will be the only one in the Northern hemisphere educating faculty for college-level interpreting programs.

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