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When we are injured, sick, or generally in need of medical assistance, we take it for granted that once we have reached a point of healthcare distribution, our needs will be expertly seen to. Even when the cause of distress is an emergency situation, we assume that all we need to do is to communicate the nature of our mishap and an expert will solve all our woes.

Imagine though, not being able to communicate that you were in severe pain, or that you couldn't move your leg, or even the circumstances that led up to your accident. The Doctor would lack the necessary background to make a proper assessment and subsequently his diagnosis might be inaccurate.

There are ever growing numbers of UK residents who speak a language other than English in their homes and who have limited proficiency in English. In the U.S. the last reported figures for similar statistics were that out of the total population, around 45 million people's first language was not English and out of these, about 18 million had limited proficiency in English. There are no figures available for the UK, however, as can be surmised; this is leading to growing problems of communication between healthcare providers and patients.

As well as the problem outlined above, which is one of interpretation, this also extends into another dimension, that of document translation. Ever increasing volumes of patient case notes, research notes and other medical documentation are arriving from foreign medical establishments, or need to be sent to establishments abroad and this throws up a unique set of problems.

Any medical data has to be translated precisely and accurately, however, problems can easily arise when attempting to translate medical terms as there is often no direct equivalency in terms. Put in a much simpler way: language is universal but medical terms are not.

The solution to medical translations lays in the use of medical translation specialists. These firms employ dually qualified translators to cut through the confusing terminology of medical terms to reach a coherent and accurate rendering of the source text.

The medical translators in question will all have a language qualification but in addition, will all be qualified in the medical field as well; it is just as well that this is so, as most medical tracts are indecipherable to non-medical staff, even when written in English.

# posted by Medical Information : 2:34 AM