Content area
Full Text
Case Scenario
During the past year, I have noticed an increasing number of Spanish-speaking patients coming to my practice. I'm fortunate enough to have a bilingual staff member-and I'm glad she is with me because I don't believe that my medical Spanish can adequately explore the complexities and nuances of patient interactions. However, this staff member has other duties to attend to besides interpreting, and I can't afford to employ a full-time interpreter. Sometimes my patients bring their own interpreter-usually a family member, and often a child. Because many doctor-patient interactions explore private or personal information, is it appropriate for me to use a child or other family member as an interpreter when interviewing or examining a patient? What are my ethical and legal obligations to my non-English-speaking patients? Can the quality of care be affected by a language barrier?
Commentary
Many physicians are facing a similar dilemma because the Hispanic population is growing rapidly, and Spanish is the preferred language for many Hispanic people. The use of interpreters is a multifaceted issue. First, the physician is ultimately responsible for communication. If a physician is not bilingual, the best alternative is to make use of the skills of a trained medical interpreter or translator. Use of remote interpreting services (such as telephone interpreters) also has proved to be successful.1,2
According to the American Medical Translators, a medical translator or interpreter is a specially trained professional who has proficient knowledge and skills in a primary language or languages and who employs that training in medical or health-related settings to make possible communications among parties speaking different languages. The skills of a medical interpreter or translator include cultural sensitivity and awareness...