Medical translation
THE IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING THE RIGHT METHODOLOGY
Of all the fields we translate, medicine is probably the one where our professional liability is most involved, probably because this is the field where translation errors have the most serious consequences. Medical science is constantly evolving and many phenomena that specialists are discussing today remain very complex for medical translators, even if they are experienced.
Should this lead us to the conclusion that only doctors should do medical translations?
No, and we all know that this is not what happens in real life. First of all, very few doctors stop practising medicine to become professional translators. Also, even if they are bilingual, doctors do not always have the linguistic tools or methodology to do translation work. For lack of the perfect translator, i.e. a doctor specialised in the field in question who has also trained as a translator, there are medical translators who do a good job. And we claim to be among them!
How do we do it? First and foremost, with good methodology. Reference documents form the basis of our methodology for medical translation services. The idea is to find information quickly and efficiently, following a logical process (anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology…). From this viewpoint, we have acquired solid experience and know where and how to find and interpret the relevant information.
But that is not enough. We also know that the opinion of practitioners is sometimes an essential asset to provide translations that are less formal and less literal renditions of the source text. For medical phraseology, for example, the advice of our consultants is often very useful to identify Spanish expressions that are more commonly used and less literal.
Here again, constant cooperation between translators and practitioners makes it possible to avoid pitfalls and to offer our clients quality translations.
We will not lie to you and promise to systematically consult specialists for each of our translations, given that they do not all involve the same level of difficulty. What we can promise is that we are discerning and clear-minded enough to know when we need to contact a specialist.