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Increasing need for qualified medical interpreters

The Boston Globe today published an article on the growing need in Boston and elsewhere for qualified medical interpreters in several languages.

Where once a medical professional would rely on someone from the cleaning staff to communicate with a patient, MetroWest Medical Center realized the potential danger in this practice and now keeps 4 or 5 full time interpreters on duty at all times. According to Izabel S. Arocha, M.Ed., President of the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA), “[t]he idea is to standardize the profession in medicine, which is the fastest-growing of all interpreter fields.”

Arocha goes on to push for “a national certification of medical interpreters.” Although no such certification exists (as I wrote about in an earlier post) the IMIA directs interpreters interested in formalizing their skills to one of three interpreter agencies that offer their own tests: CYRACOM, Language Line University, and Pacific Interpreters.