The 40-hour medical interpreter course.
Ethics, protocol and medical terms in both languages, with role-play sessions scored by an AI patient and doctor.
The lesson plan
44 lessons in 7 chapters · about 5 minutes each
- 24%
1Run the session8
Managing the Interpreting Encounter
- First-person medical interpreting Lesson 1 · free
- The pre-session, in one breath
- Where to stand, and why
- Manage the flow of talk
- Clarify, and stay transparent
- Correct your own mistakes
- Consecutive, simultaneous or sight?
- Phone and video sessions
- 23%
2Ethics in real rooms9
Professional Responsibility and Interpreter Ethics
- NCIHC’s nine ethical principles
- Accuracy: add nothing, omit nothing
- Confidentiality inside the care team
- Impartiality when you disagree
- Role boundaries: no advice
- When to advocate, and how
- Safety: precautions and exposure
- Self-care after hard sessions
- Solving an ethical dilemma
- 25%
3Medical terms in both languages13
Healthcare Terminology
- Word roots in two languages
- Body systems: los sistemas
- Heart, lungs and blood
- Digestive and urinary systems
- Bones, nerves and hormones
- Symptoms the way patients say them
- Tests, scans and lab work
- Medicines, doses and side effects
- Acronyms doctors use
- False friends: embarazada, constipado
- Pregnancy, birth and pediatrics
- Emergency, surgery and cancer care
- Mental health sessions
- 13%
4How U.S. healthcare works5
U.S. Health Systems
- Who’s who in a hospital
- Insurance, Medicaid and Medicare
- HIPAA in plain words
- Language access law and CLAS
- Informed consent and the interpreter
- 15%
5Culture without assumptions4
Cultural Responsiveness
- Don’t assume, ask
- When to be a culture broker
- Susto, empacho and mal de ojo
- Spanish across countries
6Interpreting skills lab3
Interpret in Healthcare Settings (CHI™ performance exam)
- Note-taking for consecutive
- Sight translation, done right
- Simultaneous: start with shadowing
- with ch. 2
7Your certification path2
Professional Responsibility and Interpreter Ethics
- CCHI or NBCMI: which path?
- Test day
Built on CCHI CoreCHI™ Exam Specifications, with the NCIHC National Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care · Effective May 1, 2023 (2022 job task analysis)
Read lesson 1: Speak in first person
The patient and doctor speak different languages. You carry their messages accurately and completely so they can communicate with each other.
The doctor says, “Tell the patient…” Remarks like this pull you into the center of the conversation. Patients can direct their remarks to you, too.
When patient and doctor speak directly to each other, their relationship becomes stronger. Your work supports that connection while you stay in the background.
Aim to sit or stand at eye level with both people. Choose a position that encourages the doctor and patient to address each other, not you.
The patient says: me duele el pecho.
You interpret: “My chest hurts.” First person is standard. You may switch to third person if first person causes confusion or is culturally inappropriate.
Which rendition follows protocol?
- “She says her chest hurts.”
- “My chest hurts.”
- “The patient reports chest pain.”
Answer: “My chest hurts.”. First person keeps the doctor talking to the patient, not about them.
Next lesson: The pre-session, in one breath
The full class, $349 at launch.
Paid once, when it opens. Lesson 1 is free now.
- 40 logged hours
- Bilingual terminology drills
- Role-play scoring
CCHI accepts 40 hours of training from any provider. NBCMI requires an approved program; check with them before enrolling for NBCMI.
Questions
Does this count toward CCHI certification?
CCHI asks for at least 40 hours of healthcare interpreter training and accepts any provider’s. Our course logs your 40 hours and gives you a certificate of completion.
What about NBCMI?
NBCMI requires an approved program. If you plan to take its exam, check with NBCMI before you enroll.
How does the role-play work?
You interpret between an AI patient and an AI doctor, and each session is scored. The AI is a practice partner, not a person.
When does it open, and what will it cost?
Lesson 1 is free now. The full class opens at $349, paid once.