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- Jun 20, 2010
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Got a quick question for the SDN EM Crew:
I'm starting residency next month in a state where approx. 30% of the population is Hispanic, with a sizable number of them being non-English-speaking patients that end up in the ED. Since I'm fluent in Spanish, would it be advisable/convenient/advantageous to become a certified medical interpreter? Having gone to med school in Texas, I found being able to translate for residents/attendings really useful, and something that can often expedite discharges/patient education. It's also something that I enjoy doing when the workload allows (patients tend to show a lot of gratitude to have a provider in the room speaking at their same level of language proficiency).
There were, however, instances in which attendings and other hospital staff members were unwilling to have me translate for them as I am not a certified interpreter and only certified interprets can be used for documentation purposes (I think?). So, with this type of scenario in mind, would it be worth it to become a certified medical interpreter? Checking this website, it seems that I already meet all the requirements and simply need to take an oral and written exam.
tl;dr: Entonces, ¿Me certifico o no?
I'm starting residency next month in a state where approx. 30% of the population is Hispanic, with a sizable number of them being non-English-speaking patients that end up in the ED. Since I'm fluent in Spanish, would it be advisable/convenient/advantageous to become a certified medical interpreter? Having gone to med school in Texas, I found being able to translate for residents/attendings really useful, and something that can often expedite discharges/patient education. It's also something that I enjoy doing when the workload allows (patients tend to show a lot of gratitude to have a provider in the room speaking at their same level of language proficiency).
There were, however, instances in which attendings and other hospital staff members were unwilling to have me translate for them as I am not a certified interpreter and only certified interprets can be used for documentation purposes (I think?). So, with this type of scenario in mind, would it be worth it to become a certified medical interpreter? Checking this website, it seems that I already meet all the requirements and simply need to take an oral and written exam.
tl;dr: Entonces, ¿Me certifico o no?