Medical document translation is an important aspect of the health care industry, but all too often, the translation of important medical documents comes as an afterthought. Doctors face the problem of untranslated patient documentation on a daily basis – even vitally important records such as medical histories, pre-existing conditions, and lab work.
If you are planning travel to a foreign country, it is an excellent idea to have your medical documents translated prior to leaving your home country in order to ensure that your records can be easily reviewed by medical professionals in the country you are visiting. This type of preparation can make a crucial difference should you fall ill and require urgent medical attention. The ability to give foreign medical providers rapid and accurate access to your medical history and conditions will result in faster, more precise medical treatment should you require it.
In addition, there is a strong financial incentive to having your medical documents translated: Having already spent your time, effort, and money getting diagnosed in your home country, it makes little sense to start again from scratch should you need medical attention in another country.
Accurate translation of medical documents is critical
Health care systems are complex by nature, and acquiring and keeping a patient's records accurate and current is of vital importance. Just as patients put their trust in their doctors, so their doctors put their trust in their colleagues, administrators, and even companies developing the latest medical technologies. It is equally important for all of these entities to trust that their translation services are providing high-quality, accurate medical translations, for these will in turn affect all other areas of the health care field.
Patients routinely provide detailed information to their medical practitioners in order to both reestablish and maintain their health. As a result, large volumes of paperwork are generated and distributed, not only between patient and doctor, but also between the doctor and many additional entities. In the medical industry, paperwork is inevitable, regardless of how large or small a person’s medical issue may be. From imaging reports to consultation documentation to medical histories, all documentation needs to be readily understandable by everyone involved, which is why it is critical that medical translation services be both efficient and accurate.
The health care field encompasses an extremely wide variety of specialties, and not only is there a particular tone and vocabulary specific to the medical field in general, but each of these specialties also has its own particular dialect. A professional medical translator must therefore become familiar with the languages of specific fields – anesthesiology, radiology, dermatology, cardiology, and neurology just to name a few.
Medical translation is an important and rapidly expanding field, and along with its opportunities comes the responsibility of maintaining the highest level of professionalism – in the interest not only of the patient, but of everyone in the entire medical community involved with that patient.
Written by:
Karen Hodgson, CEO of Translationz