Unlike other translations, medical translations are the most important type of specialized translation. Medical Translations mainly focus on subject matter experts to translate the content of medical documents and content into the target language. The language used in medical translation should be clear to avoid possible misunderstandings.
Medical Translation is different from standard translation because it consists of delicate information. Small mistakes can lead up to dire risks, medical translators should be careful of what they are doing and should be conscious of the potential risk that they may cause due to their negligence.
In this article, we will explain what medical translation is, what a medical translator is, and why medical translation is essential to healthcare companies.
What is Medical Translation?
Medical Translation is the translation used for medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and healthcare fields. It includes documents like study protocols, case report forms, adverse event reports, study agreements, study budgets, contracts with a research organization and regulatory authorities, standard operating procedures, informed consent forms, and patient diagnosis information.
Medical Translation is responsible for communicating medical information among professionals who speak different languages. Medical Translation is also needed for translation-related to medical devices, hospital discharge documents, medical market research surveys, medical histories, medical blogs, publications for medical journals, clinical protocols, and regulatory documents. Medical Translation services are among the growing demand in the Translation Services Industry.
Medical and Healthcare Translations are performed by Certified Medical interpreters and to become a Certified medical interpreter, they have to go through medical interpreter training. These certified medical interpreters should have in-depth subject knowledge and must be well-versed with the standard medical terminologies used in the medical field.
A recent report by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, predicted that translation jobs will grow by 29% between 2014 and 2024. It makes medical translation a promising career for people with excellent communication skills and sound knowledge of the subject matter of medical sciences in their native languages.
Why is Medical Translation important?
Medical Translation is a field that requires certified medical interpreters to constantly update their knowledge. This specific type of translation requires top-quality working procedures because, in this, the health and life of human beings are at stake.
This field of medical translation emerged from the need to achieve an understanding of health issues and health care between patients and professionals who speak different foreign languages and the dissemination of knowledge in the medical field.
Medical Translation service has become an essential part of the translation industry as it plays a vital role in helping healthcare professionals by providing necessary information and treatment to their patients who speak different foreign languages. Therefore, translating documents accurately and timely is essential.
Besides, many countries require that the labelling and literature associated with medical devices, medical documents, and pharmaceuticals get translated into their national language. As we all know, most of the research is performed in English; its results are also published in English.
An investigation was carried out by Wioleta Karwacka (“Medical Translation”, 2015) which reflected that the scientific world is predominantly English-speaking. According to Montgomery (2009) and Kaplan(2001), the share of scientific papers written in English in the total number of research papers published is 80% and 85%, respectively.
For centuries we have seen that every great civilization has not only kept records of medical findings but also translated medical advances so they could easily pass from one civilization to another. Translation made it possible for the most valuable knowledge to live on.
Five main challenges of Medical Translation
Translation can be challenging, and medical and healthcare translation is by far the most difficult type of translation in the translation industry. In this type of translation, stakes are much higher as people’s lives and health is involved. Even a single wrongly translated word can have dire consequences. Here are the five main challenges that medical translation agencies face while working on projects.
1. The complexity of Medical Terminology
Medical terminology is one of the most complex aspects of medical translations because a slight variation in words can affect the healthcare a patient receives. The medical and healthcare industry is very vast and each area has specific medical terminology for the medical condition being treated. It is the duty of medical translation services to ensure that their clients are paired with certified medical interpreters who are subject matter experts in the specific field.
2. Translation of Eponyms
This is one of the most unique challenges with medical translation. Eponyms are a healthcare field; which includes various medical conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Translation of eponyms can be challenging because their counterparts in the target language might also be eponymous. There might not be an equivalent phrase in the target language, and finding a replacement word can be even more complicated.
3. Translation of Acronyms and Abbreviations
Medical documents always include acronyms and abbreviations. And these acronyms and abbreviations simply do not translate. The medical interpreters working on these have to be well-versed in the field to know how to translate acronyms and abbreviations in the target language.
4. Translating Drug Names
Medical Interpreters can face an array of problems while doing translations of prescription drug names. Brands and generic drugs have specific given names helping them to identify the country in which they are sold. World Health Organization(WHO), assigns various pharmaceutical products an International Nonproprietary Name (INN). INN is a name given to generic drugs based on their active ingredients. This helps to reduce major confusion when differentiating drug names.
5. Cultural Context
Cultural context is often overlooked but it has a major influence on medical translation. Specific medical terms can have dissimilar meanings depending on the country in which it is being used. One word can have two different meanings, for instance, “surgery” in American English means a procedure that a doctor will perform on a patient while “surgery” in British English refers to the office hours of a doctor. Medical interpreters should consider cultural context, otherwise, the meaning of the specific word they are trying to translate can be easily misinterpreted.
These are some of the challenges faced by the medical translation industry. Medical translation is a field that requires certified medical interpreters and professionals. At Naarg, we maintain standards of excellence to ensure the best possible medical translations without any ambiguity, ensuring a highly valuable translation service. We understand that medical language translation services require expertise and accuracy.
Entrust us to handle your medical translation with the confidentiality and safety it deserves. Reach us at info@naargmedia.com to know more about our medical translation services.