Welcome to the SEMIA newsletter. If you are like me, you love language, culture and medicine, and you have found a way to integrate this into your work life: you are a medical interpreter! The world of medical interpreting is dynamic, ever-changing, and challenging. SEMIA is your one-stop shop for resources whether you are new to the profes- sion or a seasoned vet- eran. Visit our site at www.semia.org. Join us for SEMIA educational events and confer- ences. Get involved, become a member and assist us in growing so that we can increase the visibility and profes- sionalism of medical interpreting here in Ken- tucky and beyond. Lynn Fors, CHI™ SEMIA Chair SEMIA South Eastern Medical Interpreters Association Winter/Spring 2014/2015 LA SEMILLA Planting Seeds of Effective Communication Inside this issue: Welcome /History 1 SEMIA EVENTS 2 Conference 3 Interpreter Pitfalls 4 Interpreter Spotlight 5 Become a member! 6 We need your help! 7 WELCOME History of SEMIA The South Eastern Med- ical Interpreter Associa- tion was formed in early 2006 in response to the growing need for qualified medical inter- preters, specifically in Kentucky, but also in the southeastern Unit- ed States as a whole. The Southeast contin- ues to see an increase in its Limited English Proficient population, which will increase the demand for trained in- terpreters. Several efforts had been made by various entities around the state including medical interpreter trainings, a medical interpreter con- ference and presenta- tions designed to in- crease the awareness of the need for qualified interpreters. In the spring of 2006, these entities met and began to make a plan to pool their energies and re- sources. Out of this sprung SEMIA. The original Board of Direc- tors included members from Samaritan Hospi- tal, North Central AHEC, Saint Joseph HealthCare, UK Chan- dler Hospital, Blue- grass Farmworker’s Health Clinic, Hope Center and Lexington Fayette Urban County Government. Today our board members consist of language access managers and supervisors from Ken- tuckyOne Health and UK Healthcare, as well as employees of LFUCG, the North Cen- tral and UK Area Health Education Cen- ters, and contracted medical interpreters.
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Transcript
Welcome to the
SEMIA newsletter. If
you are like me, you
love language, culture
and medicine, and
you have found a way
to integrate this into
your work life: you are
a medical interpreter!
The world of medical
interpreting is dynamic,
ever-changing, and
challenging. SEMIA is
your one-stop shop for
resources whether you
are new to the profes-
sion or a seasoned vet-
eran. Visit our site at
www.semia.org. Join us
for SEMIA educational
events and confer-
ences. Get involved,
become a member and
assist us in growing so
that we can increase
the visibility and profes-
sionalism of medical
interpreting here in Ken-
tucky and beyond.
Lynn Fors, CHI™
SEMIA Chair
SEMIA South Eastern Medical Interpreters Association
Winter/Spring
2014/2015
LA SEMILLA Planting Seeds of Effective Communication
SEMIA Members receive a discount of 20% for this event.
www.semia.org
Page 3
Many of us working in the field
of interpreting think we have a
handle on the basics, or at least
we hope we do. But we need
the occasional reminder that
making assumptions is not best
the best practice and does not
serve our patients.
One assumption that is fairly
widely held is that women pre-
fer a female interpreter for
women’s health visits. We have
been so sure of this that we
often automatically try to sched-
ule a female interpreter, without
even asking the patient for her
own preference.
An interpreter working in Lexing-
ton explained a situation that
came up recently and sheds
some light on cultural believes
that influence gender prefer-
ence for interpreters.
A patient expressed frustration
when her male Swahili inter-
preter was replaced by a fe-
male, and requested that the
male interpreter attend the
future OB/GYN appointments.
The patient did not want her
gynecological issues be known
by a woman of their community.
The interpreter explained that in
some cultures in Sub-Saharan
Africa, women are valued based
on their fecundity, and especial-
ly the ability to have male ba-
bies. So a woman, who is not
fecund or less fecund, may be
subject to poor treatment and
humiliation, mostly from her
mother and sisters in law. The
interpreter explained that men
usually do not get involved, but
the husband is subject to pres-
sure from his family. This may
even be the catalyst for marry-
ing a second wife. Culturally,
women are expected to make
babies. An average African
household is composed of 8 to
14 people. So when a newly
married couple has one or two
children, and then several years
go by without another baby, an
alert is launched. The wife
would feel pressured and
stressed - a new pregnancy is a
big relief and cause of triumph
and pride. The degree to which
a woman or family is subject to
these strong cultural beliefs
varies greatly. There are many
influencing factors, including
social and economic considera-
tions and education.
Given these cultural themes, an
African woman going to a gyne-
cologist with anxiety related to
fertility issues and other gyne-
cological concerns, may feel
that it is an extremely sensitive
matter that she can share more
easily with foreign staff or male
interpreter. The Swahili inter-
preter in the above case felt
that the fact that males are not
usually the ones pressuring or
mistreating a woman dealing
with reproductive issues, as
other women in their culture
could, would be a factor in pref-
erence for male interpreters.
For a professional medical in-
terpreter, of course, this would
never be an issue. Just as
many patients prefer same-sex
staff for reproductive health
issues, completely outside of
each medical professional’s
abilities and training, a patient’s
cultural background may inform
a request for a male or female
interpreter.
Sarah Hesler, CMI
SEMIA secretary
UK Healthcare
1. The National Board of Certification for Medical
Interpreters Exams are available in Spanish,
Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean and Viet-
namese. www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org/
2. Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpret-
ers Exams are Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin.
www/cchicertifciation.org/
In order to be an integral part of the medical
team it is vital that we get required training
and that we comport ourselves ethically.
The next step is national certification. There
are currently two paths to follow:
Interpreter Pitfalls—Making Assumptions
National Certification for Medical Interpreters
“A patient
expressed
frustration when
her male Swahili
interpreter was
replaced by a
female.”
Page 4 LA SEMILLA
Cheng Chew is grateful for all the United States has provided for her and her family. Born in Fu-jian province in southern China, her parents fled communism in 1949 by moving to Malay-sia. There they had to start all over again, living upstairs from a hardware store as all seven fami-ly members lived in one room. Her parents slept in the only bed and the five children slept on the floor in the corri-dor. "My parents would often trip over us in the dark," she says.
Fast forward to 2014 and when Cheng isn't traveling (she's been to 58 countries so far), she can be found in medical offices, hos-pitals, and clinics interpreting in her native language: Mandarin Chinese. Her background as a surgical nurse has served her well in that she has extensive knowledge of disease processes and medical terminology. "In the surgical field, you have to have broad medical knowledge because patients have a range of medical problems," she states.
Cheng retired from Saint Joseph Hospital in 1999 after 20 years. In 2006 she began inter-preting and in 2013 she applied for the SEMIA Scholarship Pro-gram to take Bridging the Gap. Because of her extensive medical background and the high demand for Mandarin interpret-ers, she was given one of the two scholarships given for the spring class. Her biggest surprise re-garding the training was that there was so much to learn in order to become a qualified in-terpreter, not just knowing how to speak two languages as a lot of people believe. The different types of interpreting, how to
handle difficult situations, being familiar with the different cul-tures, knowing the policies of the various institutions, positioning of the interpreter, and first per-son interpreting are all examples of the skills of the trained and qualified medical interpret-er. She also did not realize how diverse Lexington is. The Bridg-ing the Gap sessions offered in Lexington have gone from being filled with only Spanish speakers to classes that are comprised of a mixture of students represent-ing a range of languages such as Albanian, Cambodian, Nepali and Swahili.
The biggest change Cheng made in her interpreting after taking Bridging the Gap came around the role of patient advocate. She says "before the training, I used to advocate quite a lot for the patient due to my nursing expe-rience. After the training, I learned I have to separate them. I try not to cross the line unless it's absolutely necessary."
Cheng's favorite part of inter-preting is seeing how apprecia-tive the patients are. They try to say thank you in many ways, including bringing gifts and mon-ey, but she knows from her years as a nurse that she cannot ac-cept such things. It's a very re-warding profession, says Cheng, one in which she gets to facili-tate a two-way conversation. So often when an interpreter isn't present the patient gets left out.
Some of the more difficult inter-preter jobs involve family disa-greements. The patient says something, the family disagrees, and before you know it the fami-
ly is arguing and the patient doesn't have a voice. "I have to ask them to slow down. I tell them I'll interpret for the patient first and then I'll interpret their opinions to the doctor."
Mandarin Chinese patient volume is increasing due to the Afforda-ble Care Act. Many people now have health insurance for the first time in their lives and are coming into the health care arena.
Cheng is getting ready to take another one of her trips, this time to Australia and New Zea-land. She has announced her retirement from interpreting. We wish her luck and hope she'll still do a little bit of interpreting after her much deserved vacation.
Lynn Fors, CHI™
SEMIA Chair
Supervisor
Language and Cultural Services;
KentuckyOne Health
Central/Eastern Markets
Interpreter Spotlight:
Cheng Chew
Mandarin Chinese
Cheng Chew
"Before the training, I
used to advocate quite
a lot for the patient
due to my nursing
experience. After the
training, I learned I
have to separate
them. I try not to
cross the line unless
it's absolutely
necessary."
LA SEMILLA
SEMIA MEMBERSHIP
Become a member of SEMIA!
Why?
*You can advertise your credentials
on our Interpreter Registry.
*You will receive a 20% discount on SEMIA events: conferences and
other continuing education opportunities.
*You will continue to receive this biannual newsletter.
Apply for membership here:
http://www.semia.org/
Membership Rates are $40 per year, $25 student rate.
Page 6 LA SEMILLA
Sending out weekly or biweekly
bulletin
Updating Facebook page
Assistance with website, especially
interpreter registry
Any applicable grant writing/VISTA
volunteer application
Putting together future newsletters
Contributing to newsletters
Planning CEUs
Interpreter Pow Wows, espe-
cially in Lexington and Louis-
ville
R e c r u i t i n g m e m b e r s -
membership committee
Fundraising through Good
Giving, et cetera
Community outreach
Here is a list of opportunities to get involved with