Effective communication has become somewhat challenging in today’s world, due to multicultural communities that comprise people who belong to different races, regions, linguistics, and ethnic groups. When this effective but crucial communication comes to an industry as essential as healthcare, the need for professional medical translators and medical translation services is even higher because it involves human lives.
Medical reports are generally technical forms that give information about a patient’s past, current, and upcoming health details. Recent data stated that over 46 million people in the United States speak a language other than English, and a lot of medical translation reports are seen every day by the medical industry.
But the question here arises is how to translate medical documents. Follow the article below to perceive more about the medical translation process, its importance, the challenges faced in translating medical documents, and how to translate medical documents.
Why is the translation of medical documents essential?
Translation of medical documents is essential to provide proper care and treatments to patients who speak another language. In the healthcare industry, healthcare professionals must be able to communicate effectively with patients, irrespective of the language they speak.
Effective communication is accomplished by medical interpretation and medical document translation, such as patients’ medical documents and records, service agreements, and post-discharge instructions. Medical document translation today has become more essential than ever before. It is important for pharmaceutical and medical companies to obtain medical translations because a small mistake can lead to dire consequences.
This medical document translation should be by a professional medical translator who is a Professional linguist and expert in the field of medical translation. It has also become essential because healthcare and medical document translation often involves technical and medical terms which are not known by the average layman. And the general public does not have much of a reference to medical terminology.
Lapses caused by incorrect medical document translations can be life-threatening. It should be avoided, with the use of professional medical document translation services and professional medical translators who are fluent in medical terminology and have proper knowledge of the source and target language. For the coming future, certified translation by a qualified professional translation agency will be a non-negotiable requirement.
How to translate medical documents?
Medical translation falls into the category of technical translation although it is not technical in the sense that it incorporates technology, it is categorized as technical translation because it relates to a specific industry. Medical document translation is one of the essential types of translation required in the medical industry.
Medical document translation requires a professional medical translator who is proficient in the source language and target language. If you are curious about how medical documents are translated, here are the steps to translate your medical documents.
Review the Text
It is the first and foremost step when dealing with medical documents. Medical document translation requires reading the text and content carefully and highlighting the technical and medical terms that are not familiar.
Use a Medical Dictionary
It is best to create a glossary or dictionary whenever dealing with medical document translation. Always create a digital glossary when translating medical documents and texts because the translation of medical documents requires several areas of medicine.
It will be easier to dig up the glossary whenever you get the specific field. For instance, if there is a medical report related to paediatrics that needs to be translated, having a glossary for that particular field will speed up your medical translation process.
Begin the Translation Process
Now is the time to start the translation process of medical documents while checking the glossary or dictionary whenever needed. Accurate translation of medical documents is one the most essential yet challenging things to perform because its consequences will be life-threatening.
Review your work
Medical document translation should be as accurate as possible because these translated medical reports of a patient are often used to determine whether the patient is fit for the treatments or not. If there is confusion in a report, it is best to consult and verify the reports with a doctor in the same field. For instance, if a medical report of a child is translated, you can resort to a paediatrician to confirm medical terms or texts.
Consult a Reviewer
Once all the translation work is completed, it is good to hand over the translated work to a reviewer. The reviewer will fact-check the information and texts, proofread the content and texts, and will also conduct a grammar check. Having a reviewer on board ensures that the translated medical documents are accurately translated that can be easily understood by medical professionals.
Main challenges of translating medical documents
The medical translation field has always been a complex field, posing constant challenges in disseminating new knowledge and discoveries across boundaries worldwide.
The challenges and pitfalls of translating medical documents are classified based on the criterion of eponyms, acronyms, readability, affixation, and doublet issues that can make or break a medical translation.
Below listed are some of the common challenges you are likely to face on every project.
Language Coverage
As our world is becoming more globalized and multiculturalism is increasing, healthcare services are required to support a growing list of languages, even in local communities.
Cultural Factors
Medical documentation on an international level has to consider all the cultural differences which could affect the validity or use of information in medical document translation.
Linguistic Distance
Linguistic distance describes the degree of difference between the two languages, that is, the source language and target language. It makes medical document translation more challenging.
Subject Matter Expertise
Subject matter expertise is enforced for medical document translations. And these experts should be language experts with extensive subject knowledge.
Translation of medical documents is a form of technical translation, any form of technical translation is challenging and translation of medical documents is even more difficult because complex medical terms and different languages are used in medical documentation.
If you need help overcoming the challenges of medical document translation, connect with Naarg, as we are a translation agency that works with highly experienced professionals in the healthcare industry. At Naarg, we ensure that your data gets relayed accurately.
Looking for the most suitable medical records translation services, get in touch with our team at info@naargmedia.com to learn more about our services.