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Translation Plays a Key Role in the Medical Industry

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Every field has its importance, but the medical field is the most critical of all. This is because it deals with human life. No doubt that technological advancements have made our life easy, but on the other hand it has resulted in environmental pollution. Environmental pollution and a lazy way of life have made human life prone to many diseases. For this reason, many developed countries are spending a large amount of money on medical research and development. Here the problem is that medical developments are done in one language and there are around 7139 languages spoken around the globe. Here the question comes, how to share medical development with people speaking different languages? Translation services play a vital role in the dissemination of medical industry information.

Everyone in the world has the right to live a healthy life. Ailments and disease are part of life. Doctors can cure your disease on time if they are provided with the information in the language that they understand. The same is the case with patients, they can follow the prescribed medicines if they can understand the language. Medical translation services can give you great leverage.

What is Medical Translation?

Medical Sciences is a very vast field. Not only documents related to prescriptions and diagnoses are involved in medical translation. But the translation of pharmaceuticals, medicines, and medical devices is also a part of it. Moreover, all the research and developments that are taking place around the world must be translated. Developing countries like the US lack proper medical facilities. Therefore, many people from these countries came to developed countries to get the best medical facilities. Medical translation services are of great help to people that speak different languages. With the help of impeccable MTS, patients can communicate well with the doctors, and on the other hand, medical doctors can provide them with appropriate treatment by reading the patient’s history in the language that they understand. Thus, medical translation is a two-way process.

It has been observed that medicines and drugs are prepared by the countries that have done more research. Therefore, they export the drugs to less privileged countries. Here again, medical translation services are of great use. This is because the person that can interpret the medical translation can check the composition and dosage of the medicine and can use it more appropriately. This is very important if the patient is on life-saving drugs. You need to know the importance of medical translation to help you understand the side effects of the medicine.

Hazards Linked with Improper Medical Translation

The hazards linked with improper medical translation are as follows.

  • Health issues were raised due to improper medical translation. Sometimes, it will lead to death.
  • Failure to provide the best healthcare facilities because of language barriers.
  • Not getting proper treatment on time will result in the prolonging of the disease.
  • Legal issues are raised if patients claim that they have signed the consent because of improper communication.
  • Miscommunication between the patient and doctor because of improper medical translation. 

Must Read: How to Translate Doctors’ Handwritten Notes?

How to get the Best Quality Medical Translation?

Medical translation is very sensitive. There is no room for error in it. To save lives from threats of lethal disease, many people look for professional translation agencies. These agencies employ a team of native translators who are subject-matter experts in their fields and possess prior experience in the medical industry. The following steps should be considered while selecting a professional translation company.

  • Do thorough research to select the right translation company that can fulfill all your translation requirements. For this, you can check the recommendations of the people and check the ranking and review of the translation agency.
  • People consider old companies more, but this does not mean considering new players, especially if they are making their name in the market, and they have remarkable projects to show. Do check the list of previous clients and take their feedback. Moreover, check whether the translators working in the translation company are equipped with medical terminologies or not.
  • Check how the company performs the medical translations. Give attention to details of their translation processes, and analyze their quality control processes. Select the one that gives you regular updates and lets you know about ongoing translation projects.
  • It is very essential to get a medical translation service on time because if the diagnosis of any ailment is not diagnosed on time. It will result in the prolonging of the disease. Therefore, look for such translation companies that can provide error-free translation services in a fast turnaround time.
  • Price also counts when going for a translation agency but don’t make it a deciding factor. Quality matters more than price. This goes well for medical translation because health is wealth.

Whether to go for Google Translate or Professional Medical Translator

The study of medical translation journals shows a result of choosing ten phrases that doctors used in clinical settings and selecting Google Translate to translate them into 26 languages. The results that they get are

  • The African languages got 45% correct results
  • The Asian languages with  46% accurate results.
  • The Eastern European languages got 62% appropriate results
  • The Western European languages got 74% valid results

The entire average of translation services is 57.7%. These statistics show that you can get answers to many medical terminologies from Google, but it is not an appropriate option.

The Best Medical Translation Services

Medical translators face many challenges in providing a seamless translation service. They know slight mistakes can be dangerous for human health. You can get the best medical translation services from a professional translation company that is backed by ISO certification. This shows that they follow international standards in their translation services. Moreover, their translators are well-equipped to provide you with certified medical translation services. Additionally,  they deliver you the signed statement that validates the accuracy of the medical document.

Skills of Medical Translators

Unlike other fields, the medical industry has its terminology. It is such a difficult terminology that people find it difficult to pronounce. This terminology cannot be understood by a layman. Only a medical translator that knows the different aspects of the human body and medicines can provide you with impeccable medical translation services. The medical translator should have complete knowledge of medical terminologies for interceptors so that they can provide certified translation services with full confidence.

Although all documents in the medical industry are equally important, three of the medical documents are in great demand for translation. They are translating prescriptions, patient records, and documents related to medicine usage. To get error-free translations, the medical translator must possess the following qualities.

  • A qualified medical translator must be proficient enough to translate medical content from one language to another. No matter which language pair, they require.
  • A medical translator should be aware of difficult medical terminologies, as they need to translate every word with utmost care.
  • The medical translator must know the culture of the language for which they are providing translation.
  • If the medical translator is translating any medical project, then he should make sure that the patient’s information is kept confidential.

If you want to become a competent medical translator, then you should have a degree in a second language apart from medical information.

Get an Experience as a Qualified Medical Translator

Due to the sensitivity of medical industry translation, you should start taking simple medical translation tasks such as patients and medicine leaflets to introduce new drugs and medical devices in the market. This will help you in developing your translation skills. You can also translate the information given on medical websites to gain experience. Moreover, you should have a complete understanding of human organs because the medical industry revolves around them. You can translate the content from your source language and then translate it into the targeted language and compare it to know how good your translation is. It will improve your translation skills immensely.

Keep Yourself Updated

In your spare time, do read medical journals and medical research to keep yourself updated on the latest medical terminologies, medical equipment, and treatment. One important thing to note is that with every new research and development, the previous medical procedure gets void. The other thing you can do is invest in buying some dictionaries to enhance and polish your translation skills.

Wrapping Up

Every one of us wants to lead a healthy life. People seek out the best doctors in the town for their treatment. If the ailment is dangerous, they go abroad to get better medical facilities. There, they require medical translation services to understand the foreign treatment. For impeccable medical translation services, they hire a professional translation company that is prior experience in handling medical projects. People become translators if they have a passion for the language, but for becoming a medical translator, they should have a love for humanity. This is because medical translation services are all about saving human lives.

Also Read: Let’s flesh out the 5 major steps of the medical translation process

The Impact of Language Barriers on Healthcare

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Patient safety is everything in the healthcare system. The Health care systems are designed to look after people’s diagnoses and to give them secure treatment. Evidently, we are living in this globalized world where cultures and languages have become intermingled. Cross-border visa-free entry has become the norm of the day, thanks to international and regional organizations and treaties. Due to the increased demand for interdependency, a multi-linguistic world needs to remove the language barriers in order to live cordially, expand a business, and sustain health. If any kind of communication barrier comes in the way of it, the results can get catastrophic. For instance, in providing healthcare facilities, if the language barriers are there, then this sole barrier can pose great health risks. To address these challenges, many large healthcare centers use the service of professional medical translators and interpreters to overcome the communication gap. Likewise, medical translation services are a reliable source that is providing sensitive medical localization and translation services in more than 230 languages across the globe. Because providing the translation in the medical field is not an easy task, even a simple mistake can lead to a disastrous result. So, the implications are very severe if centers do not take professional linguistics services. 

This article has explored some implications on health care owing to the language barriers. 

1) Incorrect Diagnoses

One of the primary impacts of language differences is incorrect diagnosis. When intake medical staff like nurses and doctors are unable to understand the patient’s problems, they miss out on the sensitive information that should be provided and understandable clearly for further diagnosis. For instance, if a patient is experiencing diarrhea and that problem is wrongly diagnosed as a liver disease due to the inability to have effective communication. Consequently, a wrong diagnosis will never lead to the right treatment. When the diagnosis goes wrong, you are likely to put the patient’s life in jeopardy. 

2) Allergic Reactions and Drug Interactions

When a doctor is unable to understand the patient’s prescription, there is a possibility that the medication may cause an allergic reaction in the patient. It is highly acknowledged that medicine contains the required amount of drugs, and it can react if it is not used by strict guidelines. Patients are most likely to have dangerous drug interactions if the providers are not able to know about quantity. This happens when healthcare centers do not take precautions in hiring language interpreters. Like the business field, it is necessary to have a language service provider to hit the target audience, so, why then negligence is at medical hospitals when it is all about life? 

3. Increase in the Dissatisfaction Gap 

Due to the language difference, one side is unable to convey the message clearly to the other side. Likewise, a patient who belongs to China is suffering from stomach disorders but lives in the United States of America, and he is likely to speak Chinese or Mandarin. How can you accept that he will convey the exact problem to the American doctor? On the other hand, How will you accept that a doctor can cure the disease of that patient? This will ultimately increase the understanding gap between the patient and doctor which consequently results in dissatisfaction. And when there comes to dissatisfaction with hospitals, patients do not go to hospitals, and they are likely to cure themselves with homemade remedies. Along with it, if a patient does not tell the full details of his problem to the doctor, the doctor will not be able to cure him in a regular manner.                                                                                                                    

4.  Increase in Cost Due to Ill-Treatment 

Another major implication of the language barrier is the increase in cost. Language obstacle comes in between the diagnosis, it results in longer treatment. Apart from this, ill-treatment leads to more problems. This all results in an increase in time and cost. By this, not only health but money and time also get wasted. Many studies show that medical centers do not usually have medical interpreters or any contract with a professional language service provider. Health safety is the primary goal of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and it is the top priority of even the United Nations Organization (UNO) to eradicate diseases and urge the nations to follow all necessary medical precautions. Owing to the demands of the global village, people are facing many challenges that should be encountered simply by hiring medical translators. 

5.  Psychological Stress

Language barriers may increase psychological stress. There is no denying the fact that language is a key to communication, and this feature is designed to understand each other and live in this multicultural and multi-linguistic world. So, if there comes any sort of language difference, one is not able to understand another one. Likewise, Biomed Central Health Service Research illustrated that Language discrepancies may result in increased psychological stress. Because there is a possibility that many patients who come to hospitals are already suffering from some kind of anxiety, depression, and stress. So, in these kinds of cases, language barriers may cause serious hurdles and result in more mental issues. 

Wrapping Up

In a nutshell, language barriers can cause great risks in the healthcare domain. This obstacle can cause plenty of risk factors for patient’s health and healthcare systems. That is why it is necessary to take the services of professional language service providers. Patient health is the primary duty of healthcare systems and wrong translational and inability to understand the language result in catastrophic results. Many online translation tools like Google Translate provide translation service that is appreciable. But the healthcare domain is sensitive and precise. It can not afford any minor mistake because there is a human life that is going to be at stake. That is why choosing a reliable platform is the need of an hour. Medical Translation holds the solution to this problem that can help you to remove language barriers by giving you translation services in the form of medical documentation, psychology translation, and pharmaceutical translation.