Should I mention that I acted as an interpreter while shadowing?

[and 99 others]

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I had mentioned to one of the doctors that I shadow that I am basically fluent in Spanish-though it is not my first language. The hospital I was shadowing at has a very high volume of Hispanic patients and so they do have phone interpretation and sometimes in person interpreters if they are available. However, the doctor eschewed these services in favor of me acting as interpreter.

Given that a huge part of my activities involves working with Hispanic and immigrant communities, clinically and non-clinically, I was wondering if I mentioned some anecdotes from these shadowing interactions if it would reflect well on me or poorly. I am not sure if what the doctor did is unethical or not given I'm not a certified interpreter or anything. I mean, I know it's common for family members to interpret on behalf of others but idk if the dynamic I was in makes it any different.

For what it's worth, I did take a year of medical Spanish in college.

 

[premed20172017]

I would. Just be prepared to speak Spanish during your interview.

 

[Engrailed]

I would. Just be prepared to speak Spanish during your interview.

Op is likely already fluent at lease conversationally to be able to do what he did but yes, i agree. Dont be surprised if he throws out a question in Spanish!

 

[and 99 others]

I would. Just be prepared to speak Spanish during your interview.

Op is likely already fluent at lease conversationally to be able to do what he did but yes, i agree. Dont be surprised if he throws out a question in Spanish!

I mean i marked native/functionally native on my primary so it's definitely possible. But since I got to this point through practice and not organically from childhood, I'm afraid I'll get caught off guard and choke if they pop some Spanish out of nowhere.

 

[Engrailed]

I mean i marked native/functionally native on my primary so it's definitely possible. But since I got to this point through practice and not organically from childhood, I'm afraid I'll get caught off guard and choke if they pop some Spanish out of nowhere.

It happened in an undergrad interview once at a T5 school so ... yeah youve been warned! Just know that it’s possible.

 

[and 99 others]

It happened in an undergrad interview once at a T5 school so ... yeah youve been warned! Just know that it’s possible.

Haha yeah I'm mentally preparing for it already!

 

[TheBoranIdentity]

I had a similar scenario while volunteering one time. I remember during volunteer orientation they specifically told us that even if we are fluent, we are not allowed to act as interpreters. They said this was for legal issues. For that reason, I decided to write about my experience as simply conversational with the patient while we waited for the interpreter to arrive, even though the information I got from the patient was accurate and helped get things started. I just didn't want there to be any trouble, so maybe I'm being over paranoid, but that's just my $0.02!

 

[Moko]

No one should mention that they worked in capacity as an official medical translator without the appropriate qualifications. Patients deserve someone who is fully versed in discussing medical terminology and can be relied upon to translate the entirety of what we say. That's why using non-certified staff and/or family members are frowned upon (even though I certainly have been guilty of doing this on occasion when quickly checking in on patients in the afternoon). Just my thoughts

 

[993444]

No one should not mention that they worked in capacity as an official medical translator without the appropriate qualifications. Patients deserve someone who is fully versed in discussing medical terminology and can be relied upon to translate the entirety of what we say. That's why using non-certified staff and/or family members are frowned upon (even though I certainly have been guilty of doing this on occasion when quickly checking in on patients in the afternoon). Just my thoughts

Dumb question but doctors don't have to use translators if they know the language a patient can speak, correct?

 

[and 99 others]

No one should not mention that they worked in capacity as an official medical translator without the appropriate qualifications. Patients deserve someone who is fully versed in discussing medical terminology and can be relied upon to translate the entirety of what we say. That's why using non-certified staff and/or family members are frowned upon (even though I certainly have been guilty of doing this on occasion when quickly checking in on patients in the afternoon). Just my thoughts

Even if I took classes? Which of course is nowhere near the level of certification. But doing so was a great experience and made me feel awesome about having helped a patient in such a hands on way.

I'm not helping my case here, am I?

 

[Moko]

Dumb question but doctors don't have to use translators if they know the language a patient can speak, correct?

Once you're certified to be a translator, you can do it yourself. Until then though, best to err on the side of caution especially for 'official business' like rounding, family meetings, etc.

Even if I took classes? Which of course is nowhere near the level of certification. But doing so was a great experience and made me feel awesome about having helped a patient in such a hands on way. I'm not helping my case here, am I?

Nope .

Feeling good afterwards is fine. The problem with using non-certified translators is that a patient may end up with an inaccurate assessment of their health, or leave with an incomplete understanding of follow-up / medication instructions (due to inexperienced or incorrect translating on our part -- all because we wanted to shave off a few minutes by avoiding a phone translator). People also tend to overestimate their language proficiency.

 

[ciestar]

Dumb question but doctors don't have to use translators if they know the language a patient can speak, correct?

Several places ive rotated with didn’t allow it if you didn’t take the medical interpreter certification exam or whatever that is.

 

[907914]

Several places ive rotated with didn’t allow it if you didn’t take the medical interpreter certification exam or whatever that is.

Slightly related: I didn’t directly act as a translator, but I gained consent, told them the tests we were doing, and had conversations with my patients while I was a phlebotomist in Colombia (military ran refugee screening clinic). That is cool, right?

 

[993444]

Once you're certified to be a translator, you can do it yourself. Until then though, best to err on the side of caution especially for 'official business' like rounding, family meetings, etc.


Nope .

Feeling good afterwards is fine. The problem with using non-certified translators is that a patient may end up with an inaccurate assessment of their health, or leave with an incomplete understanding of follow-up / medication instructions (due to inexperienced or incorrect translating on our part -- all because we wanted to shave off a few minutes by avoiding a phone translator). People also tend to overestimate their language proficiency.

Several places ive rotated with didn’t allow it if you didn’t take the medical interpreter certification exam or whatever that is.

Wow I definitely did not know this!

 

[ciestar]

Slightly related: I didn’t directly act as a translator, but I gained consent, told them the tests we were doing, and had conversations with my patients while I was a phlebotomist in Colombia (military ran refugee screening clinic). That is cool, right?

I feel like it being the military changed the circumstances here lol

Generally, you cannot gain consent without a certified translator.

 

[907914]

I feel like it being the military changed the circumstances here lol

Generally, you cannot gain consent without a certified translator.

Alright, cus I definitely talked about this in my application a bit lol

 

[993444]

Alright, cus I definitely talked about this in my application a bit lol

Dude, you've got four IIs, three of which are at T20 schools. There is nothing wrong with your app.

I'm not invalidating your anxiety or your personal feelings. I'm just saying that for your own sake, you should learn to cope with these thoughts you have. I say this with all my bro-mantic love: CTFO.

 

[907914]

Dude, you've got four IIs, three of which are at T20 schools. There is nothing wrong with your app.

I'm not invalidating your anxiety or your personal feelings. I'm just saying that for your own sake, you should learn to cope with these thoughts you have. I say this with all my bro-mantic love: CTFO.

It is not about being worried about my app - it is for the same reason OP brings it up - is it OK for me to talk about something like this in an interview? I am chill. It is only briefly in my PS and W/A section - I just want to know how much I can elaborate if asked about it.

 

[premed20172017]

It is not about being worried about my app - it is for the same reason OP brings it up - is it OK for me to talk about something like this in an interview? I am chill. It is only briefly in my PS and W/A section - I just want to know how much I can elaborate if asked about it.

I think you can totally talk about it. It's unique, ties in your military background, ability to (at least somewhat) speak Spanish, and your work in Colombia. Go for it.

 

[deleted688779]

No one should mention that they worked in capacity as an official medical translator without the appropriate qualifications. Patients deserve someone who is fully versed in discussing medical terminology and can be relied upon to translate the entirety of what we say. That's why using non-certified staff and/or family members are frowned upon (even though I certainly have been guilty of doing this on occasion when quickly checking in on patients in the afternoon). Just my thoughts

This adds new anxiety lol 🙁

A huge EC I talked about was serving as a translator. We were trained and the med school at my university highly publicized the program, but at the end of the day none of us were officially certified.

 

[Moko]

This adds new anxiety lol 🙁

A huge EC I talked about was serving as a translator. We were trained and the med school at my university highly publicized the program, but at the end of the day none of us were officially certified.

I think that's different because you were trained and working with the program's blessing

 

[Medic741]

Honestly this shows a lot of immaturity and lack of awareness of the setting you’re operating in. If I were involved in an interview where someone says ‘I worked as an interpreter’ and it became clear that a translating service was available it would show very poor judgement and insight on your part and definitely would not reflect well

 

[and 99 others]

Honestly this shows a lot of immaturity and lack of awareness of the setting you’re operating in. If I were involved in an interview where someone says ‘I worked as an interpreter’ and it became clear that a translating service was available it would show very poor judgement and insight on your part and definitely would not reflect well

There's a lot of nuance you're ignoring. It's not so black and white as "you're not certified? Don't you dare speak to this patient!!!"

Sure, it was wrong and I likely won't do it again but in that moment, when it caught me off guard, when I was worried about defying the doctor, when we were right in front of the patient when it happened so we couldn't call for an interpreter beforehand, I reacted instinctively and agreed.

But got it, I won't mention it.

 

[RJ McReady]

No one should mention that they worked in capacity as an official medical translator without the appropriate qualifications. Patients deserve someone who is fully versed in discussing medical terminology and can be relied upon to translate the entirety of what we say. That's why using non-certified staff and/or family members are frowned upon (even though I certainly have been guilty of doing this on occasion when quickly checking in on patients in the afternoon). Just my thoughts

One of my duties in surgical support at an outpatient surgery center was to translate questions that Spanish-speaking patients had for the staff, nurses or doctors before or after their procedures. I am not Latino but I speak Spanish fluently and the patients, staff and physicians all appreciated my willingness and ability to help, even though I'm not a certified medical translator. In my description of my employment on my AMCAS app, I listed this as one of my job duties. I don't think it has or will hurt me.

 

[RJ McReady]

Honestly this shows a lot of immaturity and lack of awareness of the setting you’re operating in. If I were involved in an interview where someone says ‘I worked as an interpreter’ and it became clear that a translating service was available it would show very poor judgement and insight on your part and definitely would not reflect well

I respectfully disagree. OP was simply trying to be helpful. If someone asks him about what he did while shadowing (itself an unlikely event) I dont see anything wrong with mentioning that he helped the doctor communicate by translating. Saying you worked as an interpreter and translating a bit to help someone out (both the patient and MD) are two different things.

 

[gyngyn]

Slightly related: I didn’t directly act as a translator, but I gained consent, told them the tests we were doing, and had conversations with my patients while I was a phlebotomist in Colombia (military ran refugee screening clinic). That is cool, right?

Obtaining consent is a particularly sensitive procedure for which anything less than fluency is not acceptable.
In an emergency, one does what is expedient.

 

[907914]

Obtaining consent is a particularly sensitive procedure

In this context, it is patients who already know they are going through the health clinic and have been informed/asked by natives of the area to go through the process. I guess to me it was just an introduction and a secondary "I need to take your blood for some tests, is that ok?" Not the first time they have been seen, initial processing was done by Colombian troops. Does that change it/how should I talk about it? Obviously it was OK in the context of military as that is what we were doing, but how do I phrase it if at all for medical school interview if asked?

 

[coffee&scrubs]

Just my $0.02. I translated a medical appointment in Arabic for a refugee family while shadowing because the official medical translator didn’t show. I gained consent from the family, and the doctor I worked with (it’s his private practice) requested that I work with that family periodically from then on. I now work as a medical assistant at the practice and still translate for their appointments three years later. While I’m not a certified translator, it’s definitely not illegal, the family is comfortable with me serving as a mediator between them and the doctor, and the doctor trusts I am fluent enough to effectively communicate. I discussed this experience as a pivotal moment for me in my personal statement and noted on my AMCAS that I am native/fluent.

 

[gyngyn]

In this context, it is patients who already know they are going through the health clinic and have been informed/asked by natives of the area to go through the process. I guess to me it was just an introduction and a secondary "I need to take your blood for some tests, is that ok?" Not the first time they have been seen, initial processing was done by Colombian troops. Does that change it/how should I talk about it? Obviously it was OK in the context of military as that is what we were doing, but how do I phrase it if at all for medical school interview if asked?

If you were obtaining consent for something that does not require informed consent, what you describe is fine.

 

[907914]

If you were obtaining consent for something that does not require informed consent, what you describe is fine.

Thank you for the feedback, appreciate it!

 

[Javyc0385]

I am a Certified Healthcare Interpreter (Spanish), I would say that you may want to mention this as an informal experience since physicians are required under the law to utilize a Qualified Interpreter-Translator to communicate with their patients.

Under the law, healthcare institutions and providers have to provide Limited English Proficient (LEP) Patients or their families the necessary tools to understand their healthcare information. Organizations must have a way to validate the language proficiency of their workforce and medical personnel, as well as keeping track of who is validated and who isn't. 9 times out of 10, these validation processes do not certify the individual to act as an interpreter, just carry on their duties in another language.

Some institutions will allow their medical providers to obtain consent if they have been validated, while other will allow physicians to communicate but not sign consents without an interpreter present.

Language access in healthcare is tricky and can be very frustrating to healthcare providers. However rules have to be followed since issues that involve a patient not getting an interpreter or understanding their medical information (for whatever reason) fall under Civil Rights Violations.