Medical translation services, like any medical service, require a unique set of specially obtained skills. As the recent COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated, the world’s health services are critically unprepared to handle outbreaks across the board. Even before the pandemic, a lack of space and quality workers was already taking a toll on many medical centers across the country.
Translation is one of the most overlooked aspects of the medical services, but one that is becoming critically more important in our increasingly multicultural world.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 25-million Americans speak English "less than very well." But when it comes to medical care, proper communication is critical.
Just picturing yourself feeling ill and unable to communicate properly with your doctor should demonstrate why medical translators play such an integral role in hospitals and doctors' offices. Thankfully, technology has increased our ability to stay in touch, and it is now possible for doctors all over the planet to get in touch with qualified translators with a few clicks.
The Need for a Good Medical Translation Company
With an aging population and medical costs mounting, the ability to find enough locally based qualified translators is increasingly difficult. Today, more medical professionals are pushing for quick adoption of direct web-based doctor-translator services everywhere.
Studies have shown (2) that the ability to successfully communicate one's symptoms and needs impacts the efficacy of treatment.
with translators available and it has been shown thousands of times over that the internet can help to get more patients more medical access quicker. Simply put, web-based medical translators help save lives and are a cost-effective solution that alleviates some of the issues facing the current medical apparatus in the United States, and across the world.
The need for a qualified translator to be available for patients has already been mandated by many countries and states, but hospitals and doctors’ offices are generally unable to cost-effectively fill this need -let alone find enough qualified medical translators. This demand has incentivized online offerings to appear. While it took time to gain the trust of the wider medical community, many online translation services are now able to provide on-demand translations for medical personnel around the globe.
Examples of the Various Forms of Medical Translation Services:
- Instruction, signage, brochures and more.
- Training Materials, informed consent forms, etc.
- Datasheets, research materials, technical documentation.
- Medical translation services for prescriptions.
- General Medical document translation services.
- Medical text translation for a multitude of clinical and patient care needs.
The Dangers of Unqualified Translations
There is a good reason that doctors and hospitals need to find a quality medical translation company they can contact quickly rather than rely on family members or nearby staff. Even fluent speakers of a language will struggle with correct medical terminology, it is incredibly complicated and mistakes can often have tragic outcomes.
There are dozens of cases where mistranslations have led to misdiagnosis or improper care—everything from administering radiation to amputating the wrong limbs.
Confidentiality is also an issue for a hospital or doctor who must rely on an ad-hoc translator. Both ethical and legal concerns arise when a translator who hasn’t sworn an oath of confidentiality is used for such work.
Medical Translation and the Impact on Research
While most of us never see what goes on behind the scenes to bring us the medicines and treatments we require in our time of need, medical translators are integral to ensuring the process runs smoothly.
Medical research groups with ready access to quality translators can disseminate their information faster and to more places. The efficient sharing of ideas, findings, research, and results dramatically enhances the production of a drug. Overseas clinical trials are also growing in popularity and would often not be possible without a translator on call.
A mistranslation or mistake at any stage of this process can dramatically hinder the development of a drug for much the same reasons it can harm a patient. A misinformed doctor or researcher is more likely to make a mistake.
International laws and regulations regarding both trade and drugs are notoriously fickle. Translators are also needed to help navigate these web ways for companies. For this reason, more research firms are adding expert translators as permanent staff to their teams or investing in a quality translation service to work as their intermediary.
Expanding in Foreign Markets Is Possible with Translators
With international business and franchising becoming more common, there is also an increase in the need for translators to assist with the global marketing of medical products and services.
Many pharmaceutical companies have very high-tempo work schedules and are always trying to get better products out with a reduced Time to Market. Without good medical translation services, these companies would be unable to utilize the accelerated timetables overseas cooperation allows.
Better translators both help a pharmaceutical product become properly tested and researched at an accelerated rate, as well as help that product be introduced and explained to worldwide markets.
Without quality translation, research would grind to a halt, and patients all over the world would lose critical access to necessary documentation. Translators the world over ensure that people are able to receive quality healthcare regardless of the language they were raised speaking. Translators allow us to communicate with each other when the need is most dire.
It takes a unique set of skills in both language and the medical profession to provide the type of work required to assist doctors, nurses, and medical staff at these critical ventures -to help patients get the information they need. But it is also an aspect of the medical industry that is often overlooked.
Hopefully, this article has explained why good translators are integral to the medical apparatus of our modern world.