[Milleny Arantess]

Leonisa, I agree that a pre-session with yourself, a patient, and the provider will reduce the risk of miscommunication, inaccuracy, and offense. It’s very important to have a pre-session when possible so that everything can flow perfectly and so that you can be more prepared and ready for anything that could occur.

[Milleny Arantess]

The four chief roles of a medical interpreter are message conveyer, message clarifier, cultural broker, and patient advocate. Each one of these roles have their unique attributes that make a medical interpreter amazing.

The first role is “message conveyer” this is the transport of the verbal and non-verbal messages from the provider/patient to the provider/patient without adding or subtracting anything. A definition straight from the book, ‘“In the message converter role interpreters listen to both speakers,observe body language, and convert the meaning of all messages from one language to another, without unnecessary additions, deletions, or changes in meaning.”’
An example of this is, the patient saying they’ve got a headache and you interpreting to the provider that the patient has got a headache, you shouldn’t add that the patient has been feeling the headache for 5 minutes or remove the word headache from what the patient said.

The second role is “message clarifier” this is the alertness of words/phrases that can confuse the patient, provider, or interpreter. This means that if the interpreter feels that the communication isn’t coming across clearly for either party or for themself they will have to ask the party that stated the confusing word/phrase to explain what they said or to use a simpler synonym of the word used. An example is the patient using the word “mid” to describe their pain. “Mid” is a word used to say that something is okay, not great but not bad. An interpreter might need to ask the patient to use a different/simplier word so the provider will be able to understand without confusion what is being said.

The third role is “cultural broker” this is the alertness of the misunderstanding/miscommunication that different cultures can bring. For example, the interpreter has to pay very close attention to what the patient/provider says and has to read body language to know how that came across because there are certain things that could come across as an offence to the provider when the patient didn’t mean it like that because in both of their cultures the word/phrase said means something different.

The fourth role is “patient advocate” while it isn’t the interpreter’s role to be responsible for everything that happens between patient and provider, the interpreter should always be aware of situations happening that could screw over the patient. An interpreter is available to help the patient that has limited english understand and communicate with the provider so when they see something that can be damaging they should speak to someone of a higher authority to figure it out for the benefit of the patient.

[Milleny Arantess]

The benefits of doing a pre-session with yourself are:
1. You mentally prepared yourself for a day of work and for an appointment that could be mentally draining
2. You looked up the details of the appointment and prepared yourself for the vocab that you will have to use for that specific appointment topic.
3 You prepared your pre-session speech for both the patient and the provider making it easier to introduce yourself so you didn’t have to think on the spot.

The benefits of doing a pre-session with a patient are:
1. You introduced yourself and now the patient knows the organization you work with, your name, and are probably more comfortable with sharing personal information in your midst.
2. The patient feels assured and now has knowledge that they should be speaking to the provider and they shouldn’t ask you for help or advice.
3. The patient knows to talk in a way that will be easy for you, the interpreter, to control the flow and interpret.

The benefits of doing a pre-session with the provider are harder to list because you have less time to talk to them but a few are that they would know your name, the organization your with, and the best way to use you and your services.

Possible scenarios that could be avoidied by doing a pre-session are:
1. You not knowing what you’re getting into and what type of language your most likey going to use
2. You having to make up a pre-session on the spot and forgetting to mention important things
3. The patient/provider not knowing your name
4. The patient wanting you to interfer in their’s and the provider’s discussion
5. The patient asking you for advice

Although very important and helpful, I don’t think a pre-session is always necessary because if it were an emergency situation instead of a regular check-up or appointment you wouldn’t waste time telling the patient or provider about yourself you should go straight into interpreting. I also think that it would be unescessay when the interpreter is familiar with the patient and/or the provider.

[Milleny Arantess]

Hi Lesly, I love how you explained the differences between a translator and an interpreter!
I agree with you with the fact that although the roles of a translator and an interpreter are very similar, there are key differences in each role that make them what they are and not the same at all.

[Milleny Arantess]

Leonisa, your points and explanations make so much sense. I also think that one of the biggest differences between an interpreter and a translator is the challenges and skills each job requires. As you said, a translator needs to understand not only the words but the context of the words put together so they can get the person’s main point across while keeping the uniqueness that each person has. An interpreter, on the other hand, needs to understand words, yes, but we need to focus more on getting the context of what was said across without adding/removing anything to what was said.

[Milleny Arantess]

I’m going to be honest at first I thought that interpreters and translators had basically the same job. They’re both telling someone what was said in English but in another language but after reading chapter one I realize that I was wrong.
An interpreter has to fully understand what is being said to convey that message across to the patient/person perfectly. We’re going to have to know what both the doctor and the patient means when they are speaking so we can keep their conversation going while making sure they understand and making sure we are saying everything they’ve said, not leaving anything out or adding anything either.
A translator on the other hand will take what the person is saying and translate it word for word in a way that can alter the meaning of what was said. Translators focus more on the words being spoken than the context they are spoken in. They will convey the message word for word but might change the meaning of what was said and leave the people they are translating for confused.
A challenge that interpreters have are knowing the exact vocabulary we have to use, especially as medical interpreters. We also have to know how to understand context as well as the words used so that we can convey the message exactly as it was intended. That means knowing when to emphasize and when to be more calm.
A challenge translators have are having to translate word for word what was said while trying to keep the context the same. They have to understand not only the words but the meaning and intent of those words strung together so that they don’t change the context that was spoken.
It’s important to understand why an interpreter is not a translator because both jobs have different functions and challenges so we have to know and understand what our job calls for and understand our challenges so that we can come up with a way to overcome those challenges.

[Milleny Arantess]

Hi Leonisa,
I just wanted to say that your words were so beautiful, and I love how your main goal is to help your community. I can relate to you in so many ways, especially in the translating for parents area. Since I was young, I’ve been my parents’ personal google translate and I also thought that I might as well put some of the skills that I gained simply by growing up bi-lingual to use!

[Milleny Arantess]

Hi Joseph!
I’m so excited to be learning with you and to know I’m not the only Brazilian Portuguese speaker!
I’m also so excited for you and this new journey you are entering with the medical interpreting field, and I can’t wait to learn beside you.
I think it’s so cool that you live in Brazil! What do you think about it? I’ve only ever been twice, and I desire to go again.

[Milleny Arantess]

My name is Milleny Arantes. I’m 17 years old and currently a student a Brandeis University. I live both on campus (during the week) in Waltham MA and at home (during the weekend) in Everett MA. I speak Brazilian Portuguese and English. I learned Portuguese from my parents and English in school. My parents are both from Minas Gerais, Brazil and they immigrated to the U.S. in the early 2000s. They met here in the U.S. and a few years later had me. Now I have two younger brothers and two dogs!
I’m currently studying neuroscience on the pre-med track and hope to go to med school to become a neurosurgeon. The reason I’ve decided to become an interpreter is because I want to be able to help my community go to the doctors without fear of not understanding or the fear of being alone. I want to help my community in any way I can and being an interpreter is the best way I can think of currently. Another reason I’ve decided to become an interpreter is to start my learning process. By being an interpreter I’m already going to deal with patients and doctors, I’m going to get a first-hand experience into the medical world and how my life will somewhat look like in a few (more like 7) years. But, one of the most important reasons I am studying to be an interpreter while in undergrad is to show my brothers, family, friends, and myself that anything is possible and doable with a lot of hard work and effort. I’m so excited to be taking this course and I can’t wait to learn more about all of you and with all of you!

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