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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