Healthcare is a very sensitive industry where accurate communication is absolutely necessary. Even marginal mistakes in word usage can cause serious problems and may lead to major health complications in a patient.
Most medical documents are typically written in English precisely because the medical and scientific terms are in English. But for patients who do not speak English, these documents must be translated to their local language so that they will have a full understanding of what is going on with their health.
Difficulties Encountered in Medical Translation
The translation of medical and healthcare documents is a common and necessary practice but it is also one that comes with a myriad of challenges. Even the most experienced medical translators can still get stumped because of these obstacles from time to time.
Most medical documents are typically written in English precisely because the medical and scientific terms are in English.
Specialized Medical Expertise
Ordinary people usually have a difficult time understanding extremely medical terms in their own language, so what more could be expected if the language used is not in their native tongue?
In order to produce high quality output, in addition to expertise in the languages involved, a healthcare translator should also have adequate medical expertise and knowledge of specialised terminology, particularly in the topic of the document to be translated.
If you require healthcare translation make sure to hire a company that can provide experts in the specific area of healthcare that you are interested in as this is the only way that you can hope to get excellent results.
Untranslatable Terms
Even in this advanced age of globalization, there are still several words, especially in the medical and healthcare industry, that do not have direct or sufficient counterparts in other languages. When faced with such circumstances, the translator should be capable of finding ways to accurately interpret the context in the translated document using other words.
Need for Updated Knowledge
Changes and developments are always happening in the world of medicine and healthcare. The vocabulary is also evolving and the definitions of some terms might change over the years. A reliable translator should be up-to-date regarding these developments so that they wouldn’t be caught using obsolete terms that might no longer be relevant, appropriate or accurate to use in modern times.
Balance between Quality and Cost
As with other types of language services, the rates for medical document translation vary tremendously. You can find very cheap providers that work really fast, but there’s a good chance that you might not get quality results from such providers.
Quality comes at a cost, so you should expect to pay a little more if you want the best translations for your healthcare documents. However, just because a translator is pricey doesn’t necessarily mean that they are good. You still have to be very meticulous in making your choice so that you can end up with a reliable provider.
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Perks of Hiring of Professional Translation Services in Healthcare
In an attempt to save money, you might be tempted to hire amateur translators, or even try to do the translation yourself. But we can assure you that this never turns out well. When it comes to healthcare documents, you should only trust a professional and highly qualified translator. Here are some of the benefits that you can get by doing so.
Better Communication
If the local language is different from the language used in the written documents, there can be a lot of communication challenges when the doctor tries to explain the diagnosis or when the patient talks about their medical concerns. Such problems can be averted if the documents are properly translated to the native language in the country or region.
Accuracy of Information
Poorly translated medical files can lead to serious repercussions like giving the wrong diagnosis or providing the wrong treatment, which can be very detrimental to the patient and make you legally liable. But when done by a qualified translation expert, you can rest assured that vital medical information is accurate across the different languages.
With professional medical translation services, the patient will at least understand their condition more easily.
Reduced Stress
Any patient that goes to the doctor for healthcare issues is already under a great deal of stress as it is. More stress will be added if the patient does not understand the medical documents because they are in a different language. Instead of getting better, they might feel much worse because of the anxiety.
With professional medical translation services, the patient will at least understand their condition more easily. They will also be able to follow the doctor’s orders properly and ultimately feel more confident that they are on the way to getting better.
Hiring a Professional Healthcare Translator Is Highly Recommended
Unlike ordinary documents that can easily be handled by regular translators, it will take a medically skilled professional translator to successfully translate healthcare text because these kinds of documents need a higher level of precision. Even the slightest errors in translation can result in lawsuits or worse, a patient’s life.
Here at Circle Translations, we have a vast pool of medically competent professional translators who are trained in different areas of medicine and healthcare. We can provide not just top quality translation services in more than 120 languages, but full-scale localization of all kinds of medical content as well.
We specialize in the translation of medical journals, clinical studies, patient instructions, drug labeling and packaging, standard operating procedures, and all sorts of other medical and health-related documents. If you want to boost your healthcare business and take better care of your clients, contact us for world-class medical translation services at very competitive prices!
