When it comes to healthcare and medical-related documents, translation plays a crucial role in providing accurate information to patients and clients. Just one translation error can lead to wrong medical decisions that cost thousands of euros and have a terrible impact on the patient’s life, as in the case of Teresa Tarry. Teresa had to undergo an unneeded double mastectomy because a translation mistake in her medical records made her doctor falsely think that she had a family history of breast cancer. This case ended with Teresa losing her job and the hospital losing €600,000 in compensation money.

The quality of medical translation should never be compromised because of the patient’s safety and trust as well as the legal implications it might bring. That’s why medical translators need to adhere to best practices in the medical domain.

1. Understand the content

The quality of a translation is mainly determined by how well the translator understands the source. However, understanding consent forms, health reports, or surgical procedures is never an easy task due to all the jargon and abbreviations in clinical settings. Luckily, there are ways to help you overcome this obstacle.

• Read more medical content: Reading is an effective way to improve health literacy and get familiarized with medical terminology. However, not every source of information is reliable, and you must choose wisely. Trustworthy websites are those that provide only validated medical information, not medical diagnosis, or treatment. Some sites you can consult are WHO, Mayo Clinic, or Healthline. For Vietnamese readers, YouMed, Hello Bacsi, and the Ministry of Health Portal’s website will be worth your time.
• Do research when encountering unfamiliar terms: Google Translate or other translation machines can help ease some of the workloads but cannot be trusted with medical jargon. For complicated medical concepts, it’s better to consult creditable medical dictionaries like Vdict English – Vietnamese Medical Dictionary or ProZ English to Vietnamese Medical (general) Translation Glossary. If you have the chance, asking a bilingual doctor or your senior about those terms can be a good idea.
• Attending medical translation courses: Online and offline medical translation courses are available around the world. Those courses not only provide you with basic medical knowledge that deepens your understanding of the clinical world but also sharpens your translating/interpreting skills.
• Ask the client/doctor to clarify the context: Sometimes, it’s the lack of context that hinders your understanding of the source. If you hear a doctor says, “The patient is positive” without any other explanation, it will be hard to determine if the doctor means “The patient’s condition is positive” or “The patient’s COVID test report is positive.” Abbreviations can also be ambiguous and lead to miscommunication if the context is not clear enough. For example, “ED” can mean “eating disorder,” “elbow disarticulation,” or “emotional disorder.” If this is your case, asking for clarification from your client or physician can help.

2. Use translation memory and termbase

CAT Tools (Computer-aided translation Tools) are becoming more popular in the translation industry, bringing with them the great assistance of translation memory and termbase.

Translation memory stores your previously translated documents so that you don’t have to re-translate them, and termbase acts as a dictionary that has all the jargon you have researched. These two friends can ensure consistency throughout your projects, help you avoid mistranslations, and save your time.

However, you will need to update your translation memory and termbase regularly to make sure there is no outdated information. For translation memory, it’s necessary to import every newly translated document you have and scan the existing ones for errors. Frequently adding new terms as well as updating new translations for old terms to your termbase is also recommended. For example, the term “nurse” used to be translated as “y tá,” but “điều dưỡng” is an official translation now. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a few new terms like “coronavirus” and “social distancing”.

At Hansem Vietnam, we have translation memories and termbases for every project type and every translation domain that are updated after every project we handle. Medical translation memory and termbase are no exception. With this aid, we can provide quality services that are time-and-cost-effective.

3. Never submit your work unchecked

Mistakes are an inevitable part of the translation process, especially in a demanding domain like medicine. Therefore, having someone or using a tool to check your translation is mandatory.

• QA features: CAT tools offer you a variety of QA features to check your work before finalizing it. With these features, you can check all types of errors like numeric mismatches, untranslation errors, terminology issues, etc.
• Back translation: Back translation is the process of translating a target text back to the source language, then comparing the back-translated version to the source to detect any disparity. This process can help you confirm that the target has conveyed the full meaning of the source.
• Have a “real” doctor check the accuracy: Medical practitioners are not the best fit for the translating step but can play an important role in proofreading or the medical review step. With strong background knowledge, they can help point out false information, wrong terminology, or mistranslated abbreviations in your work.

Medical translation requires a high degree of skill and proficiency to ensure that the translated content is accurate, clear, and compliant with regulations. Such work must be handled by a dedicated translation team that adheres to the best practices in medical translation, like Hansem Vietnam. Our certified, professional services guarantee the high-quality products you are looking for. We are here to help you provide the best possible care for your patients.