Week 2 – Discussion Board 2

[Art Liebl]

In at least 250 words, outline the four chief roles of a medical interpreter, citing examples of each. Reply to two fellow students by Monday.

[Musharraf Bayramova]

The four roles of a medical interpreter:
Message conveyor/conduit. In relation to the message, the interpreter is like a water conduit in relation to water: it cariires the message without taking anything away or adding anything. A citation from the chapter: “A water conduit for example takes water from one location and transports it to another. A good conduit doesn’t leak, nor, permits foreign materials to contaminate the water.” Similarly, the interpreter’s relationship to the speed and volume of the message can be compared to a valve in relation to the stream of water. It regulates and controls it. The chapter’s citation of the CHIA: “[ … ] interpreters must manage the flow of communication between all the parties present. Interpreters need to intervene (verbally or nonverbally) when parties speak too fast or fail to allow the interpreter time to interpret. They also need to manage turn-taking, indicating to individuals speaking at the same time that they will be heard in sequential order or that a party must be allowed to finish speaking.”

Message clarifier. This role could be illustrated thru the metaphor of a smoke detector. The interpreter detects and alerts significant misunderstandings, distortions, and register, much like a smoke detector to significant changes in temperature.

Cultural broker. This role is similar to the previous one but here the interpreter detects and alerts not misunderstandings of words but cultural differences related to healthcare practices and traditions. I think, this role may apply in situations where a patient expects the provider to make decisions for them, as doctors may do in the patient’s home country. Meanwhile, the provider in the US may expect the patient to make decisions independently based on the options provided.

Patient advocate. When the interpreter has advocacy skills and notices discriminatory words or actions, they may “enter into the patient advocate role”.

[Author]

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