Introduction to Medical Interpreting

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

Course length: 8 hours

Course access period: 90 days

Once purchased, course access cannot be paused. See our FAQ for information on purchasing course access extensions.

Course completion requirements: Pass five 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): 2 CCHI CE hours
• 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: 8 CE credits
• Ontario Council on Community Interpreting: 8 OCCI PDUs

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 for medical interpreters.

What you will get:

• 4 video instructors: Marjory A. Bancroft, MA, Omari Jeremiah, MA, Rita Monroy, MA and Lorelly Solano, PhD
• 43 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)
• 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
• Sections from The Medical Interpreter: A Foundation Textbook for Medical Interpreting and The Community Interpreter®: An International Textbook
• 5 lesson completion certificates plus an overall course completion certificate

Introduction to Medical Interpreting Course Content (Estimated time for completion: 8 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)

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

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