Introduction to Medical Interpreting and Medical Terminology

Course description: A robust introduction to the profession of medical interpreting for bilingual staff and freelance interpreters. Learn the basic ethics, standards and protocols. Includes four hours of medical terminology for interpreters.

Course length: 12 hours

Course access period: 180 days from purchase date

Once purchased, course access cannot be paused. See our FAQ for information on purchasing course access extensions or purchase your course extension here. 

Course completion requirements: Pass seven exit tests (score of 70% or above).

Certificate: Downloadable certificates available immediately upon passing each lesson exit test.

CEUs:

• Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI): 6 CCHI CE hours
• International Medical Interpreters Association: 0.4 IMIA/NBCMI CEUs
• Washington State Department of Social Health Services: 1.5 DSHS CECs
• The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf: 0.15 RID CEUs*
• Maryland Court Interpreter Program: 12 CE credits
• Pennsylvania Interpreter Certification Program (ICP): 4 CEUs
• Ontario Council on Community Interpreting: 12 OCCI PDUs

*Please note that there is an additional $20 processing fee, per program, for RID CEUs.

Learning objectives:

After completing this course, you will be able to:

• Define, compare and contrast medical and community interpreting.
• Discuss the history of medical interpreting.
• Define and discuss ethical codes of conduct.
• List and analyze nine ethical principles for medical interpreters.
• Describe the three stages and seven steps of a typical interpreted encounter in healthcare settings.
• Analyze professional and unprofessional conduct in each of the seven steps of the interpreted encounter.
• Discuss and practice four protocols for medical interpreting: positioning, introductions, direct speech and turn-taking.
• Make decisions about when and how to perform these four protocols during interpreting assignments.
• Compare and contrast codes of ethics and standards of practice for interpreters.
• Identify general best practices that support standards of practice for medical interpreters.
• Identify the meaning of common Greek and Latin roots and affixes found in medical terms.
• Associate the Greek and Latin roots found in common medical specialties with terms related to those specialties.
• Relate Greek and Latin roots to relevant parts of the human body.
• Understand and interpret anatomical terms that refer to position, direction, planes and body cavities.

What you will get:

• 5 video instructors: Marjory A. Bancroft, MA, Omari Jeremiah, MA, Rita Monroy, MA, Lorelly Solano, PhD and Sylvana Fernández-Ellauri, MD (Uruguay), CMI, Spanish
• 66 interactive exercises, including three quizzes
• 6 videos of interpreters facing ethical dilemmas and other difficulties during assignments
• 6 audio sample interpreter introductions to assess
• 5 audio recordings of indirect speech to be converted to direct speech
• An introduction to communicative autonomy
• An analysis of interpreting specializations 
• Handout: NCIHC National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care
• An overview of codes of ethics for interpreters, both international and U.S.
• 1 role play exercise (English only: briefing practice)
• 2 medical role plays
• 2 self-assessments of your performance and your ability to interpret medical terminology
• A step-by-step analysis of the interpreted encounter
• Clear guidance and examples on briefings, introductions and debriefing
• Post-encounter analysis guidelines
• 13 best practices on applying standards in the field
• A free publication (environmental scan) about interpreting standards of practice
• Valuable tips from the field
• A step-by-step overview of the human body, with video, audio, visually engaging materials and anatomical diagrams
• All medical terminology course material reviewed by an MD and Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI)
• Sections from The Medical Interpreter: A Foundation Textbook for Medical Interpreting, Medical Terminology for Interpreters and The Community Interpreter®: An International Textbook
• 7 lesson completion certificates plus an overall course completion certificate

Introduction to Medical Interpreting and Medical Terminology Course Content (Estimated time for completion: 12 hours)

• An Overview of Community and Medical Interpreting (1.5 hours)
• Ethics in Action 1: Codes of Ethics for Community and Medical Interpreters (1.5 hours)
• How to Conduct an Interpreted Encounter (1.5 hours)
• How to Perform Standard Interpreting Protocols (1.5 hours)
• How to Follow Interpreting Standards of Practice (2 hours)
• An Introduction to Medical Terminology (2 hours)
• Medical Terminology and the Human Body (2 hours)

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