Page 8 - The Medical Interprete

THE MEDICAL INTERPRETER

DEFINITION
Defining medical (healthcare) interpreter
Communicative autonomy
Medical (healthcare) interpreter
A medical interpreter is a community interpreter who interprets
in healthcare settings. Here is a definition of “medical A bilingual or multilingual
individual who is professionally
interpreter” created by the authors for this textbook: qualified to interpret in healthcare
settings.

Categories of interpreters

Four types of interpreters

There are several types of community and medical
interpreters, for example:
• Staff interpreters
• Contract interpreters
(self-employed freelancers)
• Bilingual staff members
(often referred to as “dual role” interpreters)
• Volunteer interpreters

Staff interpreters

Most staff interpreters work fulltime. They usually earn a salary with benefits, such as vacation and
retirement plans. Most staff interpreters in healthcare work in hospitals or large community health
centers. Some can be found in health departments.

Contract interpreters (self-employed freelancers)

Contract interpreters (independent freelancers) accept contract work from organizations such
as language companies, hospitals or nonprofit language services. Legally, a contract interpreter
is a small business. Most freelance interpreters are paid by the hour (or by the minute, in the
case of many telephonic interpreters). They do not usually receive extra benefits. They might
or might not be reimbursed for expenses such as parking, tolls and mileage (Kelly, Stewart &
Hegde, 2010). 2

2 Most contract interpreters are not only medical interpreters. They also perform legal, educational, social services,
conference and/or other types of interpreting, and even translation.

22