Medical Translation and Interpreting

All presentations are in English unless otherwise noted.

MED-1 (T, 4:15pm-5:00pm) - Intermediate
English«German Medical Translation
Maria Rosdolsky (Ambler, Pennsylvania), English«German medical translator

This presentation will deal with various medical materials and texts that German translators are exposed to on a daily basis. The use of dictionaries, glossaries, and the Internet for truly medical texts, technical texts (such as manuals for medical devices and essays), as well as the problems translators encounter with these texts and possible solutions, will be discussed. The rapid changes in terminology and the continuous addition of terms, especially in medical technology, as well as the "invasion" of English terms into German medical and technical terminology, will also be addressed.

MED-2 (F, 1:45pm-3:15pm) - All Levels
The NCIHC Forum Series: Listening to Your Voice About a National Code of Ethics
Bruce Downing (Minneapolis, Minnesota), associate professor of linguistics and director, Program in Translation and Interpreting, University of Minnesota; Cynthia E. Roat (Seattle, Washington), medical and social service interpreter, and founding member, Society of Medical Interpreters; and Karin Ruschke (Chicago, Illinois), founder, International Language Services, and co-chair, Standards, Training, and Certification Committee, National Council on Interpreting in Health Care

The National Council on Interpretation in Health Care is a multidisciplinary national organization that promotes professional medical interpretation. As part of its work this year, NCIHC is working towards establishing a healthcare interpreter code of ethics that would be accepted at a national level. In this NCIHC forum, a draft of the code of ethics will be presented. Participants will be asked for their input on the code, for their ideas, and for their guidance on how to proceed with this important work. Come have input into the formation of your profession!

MED-3 (F, 3:30pm-5:00pm) - All Levels
Programs, Politics, and Perseverance: What's New in Healthcare Interpreting in the U.S.
Cynthia E. Roat (Seattle, Washington), medical and social service interpreter, and founding member, Society of Medical InterpretersHealthcare interpreting is growing rapidly across the United States. Policy wars in Washington, certification pilot programs in three new states, massive funding for new initiatives, ground-breaking research, fledgling interpreter organizations¾the landscape is changing rapidly as healthcare interpreting emerges from obscurity. This entertaining presentation, based on the popular TV game show Jeopardy, will introduce you to the collaborations, the politics, the projects, and the organizations that are becoming part of the healthcare interpreting scene in the U.S. today. Come learn what's going on in your state, your region, and maybe even your own backyard!

[CANCELED] MED-4 (S, 1:45pm-3:15pm) - All Levels
A Crash Course in Inferential Statistics and Experimental Design for Translators
Lydia Razran Stone (Alexandria, Virginia), literary and technical translator, and editor, ATA Slavic Languages Division newsletter (SlavFile)

The procedures of experimental design and inferential statistics are used by researchers in the biomedical and social sciences to plan their experiments and assess the significance of their results. These procedures involve specific, abstruse-seeming but well-defined, terminology, which permeates scientific journals in these fields, potentially causing translation problems. The session will provide an overview of the procedures and terms in statistics and research design from the standpoint of translation. Examples discussed will come from Russian science, where, for intriguing reasons pertaining to Communist ideology, statistics were adopted much later than in other developed countries. However, the bulk of the discussion may be useful to biomedical translators of all languages. If possible, handouts with translations of terms discussed into other European languages will be provided.

(Related Sessions: Preconference Seminars (Seminar G), What is an Aorta? How to Become a Specialist Translator; Preconference Seminars (Seminar P), The Art of Medical Interpretation: An Inclusive Approach to Teaching; French (F-6), Pharmaceutical Writing for FrenchÕEnglish Translators; Interpreting (I-7), Guides to Telephone Interpreting; Interpreting (I-9), The Challenges of Interpreting for Refugee Populations; Interpreting (I-10), Telephone Interpreting: Everything You Wanted to Know; Interpreting (I-11), The Third Interlocutor: The Visible Language Interpreter in a Healthcare Setting; Japanese (J-8), Opportunities in Medical Translation for Translators with Non-Science Backgrounds; Science and Technology (ST-4), Organic Chemical Nomenclature: A Workshop; and Training and Pedagogy (TP-3), An Adventure in Online Learning: Introduction to Medical Interpreting)