How can I use non-native Chinese fluency professionally?

[WanderingDave]

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I am a non-native Chinese speaker who is a US DO student. I've also learned Japanese in the past, but haven't spoken it in many years and have lost my fluency, though I'm fairly sure I could get it back if I was immersed. I've learned to read and write both of these, though again, I need practice.

I would love to be able to make use of one or both of these languages in a future medical career. I've lived and studied in China, Japan, and Taiwan at various times, and would be very willing to go back to any of these places during my elective rotation year, or during residency, if I had the chance.

I'd be quite willing to invest in a medical Chinese or medical Japanese course, but I'd only make that investment if I had a very specific type of future job in mind, that I knew I wanted to do, and that I knew there might be openings in. I say this because I originally took Chinese and Japanese without a clear idea of what I wanted to do with these. I then graduated and realized I did not want to be a businessman of any kind. I didn't succeed at translation or enjoy it very much. I'd be willing to give government, NGO, or interpretation work a shot, though I have no experience with any of these. I'd go academic too, but it's not my first choice; I'd rather be working clinically with patients. I'm only MS-II now, but so far my biggest medical interests have been geriatrics, general practice, and emergency.

Any ideas of what might be out there for me?

 

[schrizto]

Practice in an area with a large Asian population and you're bound to be able to put to use that Chinese and Japanese fluency at some point.