August 2003 Chronicle
Focus: Medical Translation and Interpreting

Message from the President
Message from the President-elect
Message from the Executive Director

Financial Results for 2002—from the Treasurer

ATA Officer & Director Nominations
By Robert Sette
Much work goes into the process of recruiting capable persons to run for office.

Tribute to Kenneth Katzner
By Laura Esther Wolfson

Professional Certification: What is it? Do I need it? How do I get it?
By Ann C. Sherwin
"Certified" translators and interpreters are in great demand, but there is widespread uncertainty, even within our ranks, about what constitutes professional certification. This article posits a definition, clears up common misconceptions, and offers suggestions for newcomers to the field who wish to acquire such a credential.

Blinding Me with Science: Volunteer Interpreters Split (Linguistic) Atoms at the ISEF
By Amanda Ennis
How to increase your scientific IQ, showcase your skills as an interpreter, and network with potential clients, all while performing an invaluable community service. Not bad for a day of pro bono work!

Evaluating Speech in a Mental Health Setting
By Jeff Morton
Determining a person's mental health needs and issues becomes ever more challenging when the information concerning emotional and/or mental distress is being communicated across cultural and linguistic barriers and through a third party.

Beware of the "Bilingual Expert"
By Maria Cornelio
In spite of their assumptions, most "bilingual experts" are not equal to the task of translating documents for medical research.

The Medical Interpreter and the Police in the Emergency Department: Too Close For Comfort?
By Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Gladys McCormick
A discussion of the relationship between medical interpreters and law enforcement in a hospital's emergency room.

Medical Language and Medical Translation
By Elena Sgarbossa
Translation and medicine are both inexact sciences. Medical semantic pitfalls lie in both the source language and the language interface, and are a frequent source of mistranslation.

Simultaneous Interpreting: (Rewarding) Stress and the Need for Recovery
By Satu Höyhtyä, Translated from Finnish by Anja Miller
Anyone who has ever attempted simultaneous interpretation or done it professionally knows that the work is challenging and is certain to lead, at the minimum, to nervous tension and feelings of inadequacy, if not to full-blown stress.

Argentine Political Jargon
By Rut Simcovich
How has language reflected the Argentine political rollercoaster and, more particularly, the way people vote?

A Linguistic Tragicomedy
By Paulo Rónai, Translated by Tom Moore
For the Brazilian who has not yet traveled outside his country, it will be difficult to understand the obsessive energy with which the idea of an international language haunts and torments a European brain.