During 2020 it was my privilege to be a member of the Oregon Council for Healthcare Interpreters. During 2020, the Council did not sit still. We worked on a variety of projects to support language access. In early March, we supported OHA as they drafted a guide for infection control guidance for in-person interpreters and [...]
Update on July 18, 2021: The Governor signed this bill on July 14, 2021. Please check the measure history on this page. Thank you for your support. Advocacy 101 for Interpreters and Translators Presentation written for NAJIT interpreters in preparation for advocacy at Capitol Hill in 2017 This presentation includes some guidelines on how to [...]
In Washington, Oregon and California, the organizations that maintain CE credits keep a close eye on the quality of the training that interpreters receive. This is what they ask interpreting training providers to submit: Speaker Needs to meet at least one of these requirements, the more the better: Have a degree in the field [...]
I gave this presentation to the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce on June 5, 2020, in the context of the civil rights protests. In that presentation, I put language access, which includes translation and interpreting, in the context of civil rights. See this blog post for a history of language access on the West Coast. This [...]
Interpreting is a professional field. What was once done by whoever was bilingual now has an established certification process. There are less and less reasons to work with unvetted providers. This timeline tells the story on the West Coast, where I live. I am from Oregon, where I am certified as a healthcare interpreter and [...]
A new group in Oregon: Oregon Interpreters in Action (OIA) email : [email protected] In Oregon, medical interpreters have shown the Legislature that their working conditions necessitate having a way to discuss working conditions. Oregon Interpreters in Action the group of independent contractors who are medical interpreters have those discussions. Check their meeting schedule and get [...]
The factsheet for Section 1557 of the ACA, posted on the website of the Department of website of Health and Human Services, says: The page starts with a short summary of the rule: Section 1557 is the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, [...]
Human beings have many ways of doing things because many approaches work. In my calculus class at U. Mass Lowell, Mr. Kaplan taught us many ways to solve the same problem because, according to him, you never knew what way was going to help you work it out. As we connect with other cultures, we [...]
We completed another year of translation training! Daniela Guanipa joined me as co-trainer all year. Spanish writing: 10 sessions, September to November. Preparation for the ATA Spanish translation certification exam: 17 sessions, January to May. What do the students who finished the course say? They have become much better translators over the 17 weeks of [...]
Issues to consider when filling out forms a. Medical providers need the medical intake forms in a language they can understand. Typically, medical interpreters have been involved in this process, b. Medical interpreters have a limited scope of practice. They are not expected to give medical advice (explain the meaning of medical terms, which can [...]
