Friday, October 18, 2013

Identity Crisis of Spoken Language Medical Interpreters--

One of my colleagues who has been interpreting as a staff interpreter at a hospital in North Carolina recently shared an experience with me that confirmed something I have suspected for a few years now.  The hospital she works for has little experience in the proper use of professional medical interpreters and she, herself, is only recently attempting to attain certification.  While finishing up an assignment, she was paged by the receptionist who told her there were some "Spanish folks" that needed assistance.  The receptionist was about to hand over the phone to them, but the interpreter stopped her and explained that for phone calls, the receptionist would need to use a phone interpreter.  She explained the reason for this was so that on-site interpreters could continue to answer pages for face to face encounters.  The receptionist was very put out and hung up on the staff interpreter.  To the interpreter's credit, once she finished the assignment she was currently on, she went to see the receptionist with not only the intention of smoothing things over and changing the perception that she had been unwilling to assist, but to also educate the receptionist about the proper use of the interpreting resources of the hospital (i.e. the difference between using a phone interpreter versus an on-site interpreter, etc.)  When she arrived, the receptionist endured the explanation but, immediately upon its completion, nodded toward the "Spanish folks" that were still there waiting, since the receptionist had decided to ignore them.  The staff interpreter went over, found out what they wanted, and directed them to the proper department.  In other words the interpreter did what the receptionist would have done with a native English speaker, never involving the receptionist.  

When my colleague finished her story, I confess I was flabbergasted at the ending.  It would have never occurred to me to do what she had done once she arrived.  She had gone all the way down to the reception with the intention of "fixing things", only to solidify the misuse of resources and foment erroneous views.  I spontaneously blurted out that I would have invited the family needing assistance to the receptionist desk, encouraged them to express their needs so I could interpret them to the receptionist, and then would have interpreted the receptionist's instructions back to the family.  My colleague's response was, "Oh that would have been perfect.  I wish I would have thought of that."  She wished she had thought of interpreting.

My purpose in sharing this experience, not a unique one at that, is not to make fun of this particular individual who was hired as a professional interpreter, but rather to highlight the identity crisis that some of us have as medical interpreters.  My colleague did not think of interpreting because that is not who or what she thinks she is.  She thinks of herself, just as the receptionist thinks of her, as a person who is around to "help out with Spanish-folks."  So in effect she did go down to the receptionist to fix things, but she did not fix things as an interpreter.  Her role (in this hospital, interpreters are just interpreters; they don't hold dual titles as in other healthcare facilities), was to help overcome any linguistic and cultural barriers for the receptionist to be able to provide the same service to this family as she would have provided to a family that spoke English well.  Her role was to interpret the conversations in such a way so that each individual would have responded the same way as two English speakers having that very same exchange. 

So, why did the staff interpreter not interpret?  Because that is not who she thinks she is.  She thinks she is a "fixer" for Spanish problems or issues and as such, the quickest, most efficient way of fixing that particular problem, was to take matters into her own hands get the job done.

I suspect that many reading this blog will wonder, "What is the big deal?"  It was the quickest most efficient way to answer the family's questions and the interpreter knew the answers without having to consult with the receptionist.  What harm was done?

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