MAMI Offers First Medical Interpreter Training in Albany

Cornelia Brown

The 80-hour weekend course (starting April 30) is being offered "in response to a need for qualified, trained interpreters, resulting from the growing immigrant and refugee populations," noted Dr. Cornelia Brown, Ph.D., executive director of the not-for-profit MAMI, which trains and provides interpreters for the medical, social service and legal communities.

“The conversations that health care providers have with patients are critical to the diagnostic process,” she said. “The presence of a trained medical interpreter makes for a satisfied provider and patient, and makes for a satisfying tool for risk management.”

The medical interpreter course, which takes place over five weekends, is made possible through a collaboration with the Albany Diocese's Catholic Charities AIDS Services.

Trained medical interpreters are able to earn extra income, Brown said, noting: "Many of our interpreters are immigrants and refugees themselves, who now have another source of income."

"MAMI offers the most comprehensive medical interpreting course in upstate New York," Brown said. Full scholarships are being offered to participants, she said, but they must meet the requirement of being fluent in both English and a second language. The course covers interpreting skills, ethics and procedures; medical terms and anatomy; cultural brokering (including recognizing cultural barriers and overcoming them); communication skills; guidelines for advocacy; sight translation of brief documents during interpreting sessions; role playing; oral benchmarks; written exam, and tours of healthcare facilities. Those successfully completing the course are eligible to work as paid MAMI interpreter-interns, and those completing the internship, with a follow-up oral exam, receive the MAMI Certificate in Medical Interpreting along with higher pay rates. The in-house certificate is based on guidelines set by the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care.

Interpreters are needed in all languages, Brown said, and especially in the following priority languages: Albanian, Arabic, Bangla (Bengali), Bosnian, Burmese, Cambodian, Chin, Dari, Farsi, French, Guyanese, Hindi, Kurdish, Japanese, Karen, Karenni, Kinyamulenge, Kiswahili, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Nepali, Pashto, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrinya, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Wolof.

"We want to develop of list of potential students for a second course later in the year," Dr. Brown said.

The course is being held in the Social Justice Center at 33 Central Ave., Albany. For more information, call 518-426-1626 or email info@mamiinterpreters.org.

Telephonic and On-Site Interpreting

Using a telephonic language service can be beneficial in a number of situations, such as an emergency or when a trained medical interpreter is not readily available, Dr. Brown noted, but the presence of a trained on-site medical interpreter improves the clarity of communication. "Telephonic interpreters can't see the encounter so they miss the visuals,” she said.

“A trained on-site interpreter contributes to the health care goal of good patient outcomes," Dr. Brown added. "He or she is there from start to finish, contributes to a relationship of trust between provider and patient, ensures that patient’s questions are answered, enhances patient education, helps overcome cultural barriers and misunderstanding, and maintains patient confidentiality.”    

Bilingual Vs. The Trained Interpreter

While a trained interpreter is bilingual, Dr. Brown said, a bilingual person is not a competent interpreter in the healthcare environment. A medical interpreter is trained in professional conduct, is knowledgeable about medical terminology and procedures, follows ethical procedures required in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, allows both parties to communicate as directly as possible, and identifies cultural barriers and communicates them to both parties.

###

Media Contact: Mary T. Stronach, 315-796-9284, mstronach @ mamiinterpreters.org