What is a good medical translation?
Every science requires the sharing and dissemination of knowledge between specialists from different countries. Thanks to this, it develops much more efficiently. Medicine is no exception. Medical translation is an important industry that not everyone can deal with. The quality of execution of such orders often determines the health and even life of patients. In turn scientists could be misled, which would significantly delay and hamper their work. What do I need to know when ordering medical translations? Why should you choose a professional company for this?
What do medical translations include?
The term "medical translations" is quite broad and can be included in its scope:
- translation of technical documentation,
- software and manuals,
- the content of the training,
- scientific.works.certificates.of.homologation.of.medical.equipment,
- medical records of specific individuals.
As you can easily guess, most of these texts require a high level of confidentiality, especially the patient files. A translator performing such a task must not only have a perfect knowledge of a foreign language, but also be able to move smoothly and understand medical terminology. So there is no need to entrust this kind of task to a person who simply speaks a foreign language, even to an excellent degree. As far as medical translations are concerned, there are many offices and companies in Krakow that are able to handle this professionally.
Who can do medical translations?
What is the professionalism of medical translation? To a large extent on the education and preparation of the person who takes care of it. A good specialist translator is a person who graduated from a medical, pharmaceutical or other field of study that enabled him/her to get to know the industry (physiotherapy, microbiology).
The next step is to complete postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Philology. These studies are strictly related to the translation of medical texts and entitle to practise as a medical translator. Another way is to pass the exam for a technical translator with medical specialization. With such qualifications, you can already do medical translations or online medical translations. In order to be able to interpret at conferences, further professional qualifications and apprenticeships are required.
When ordering medical translations, you have to rely on professionals - Alingua is one of the offices in Krakow that employs people who are well prepared for this role.
Does anyone supervise the quality of medical translations?
Due to the high potential harmfulness of poor translation in this field, medical translations are subject to certain standards. The translation agency should have an appropriate certificate. The basis is the ISO 9001 standard, i.e. the international standard that regulates quality management systems. More detailed guidance is given in EN 15038, which governs European translation requirements.
Medical translations should also be verified by a person with medical education who speaks a given language (the final language of translation) as the native language.