Sunday, October 14, 2007
Lincoln's Medical Translations
A big issue in America that is also hitting Lincoln pretty hard is the matter of interpreting for patients of a different language. Many people may think that this is not really one of the great concerns of the medical industry, but the city of Lincoln is home to over fifty different languages alone. This makes it difficult to get all the different language. I never thought that doctors could have problems his diagnosing patients with the language barrier. As the article mentioned, doctors feel that the burden is on them when really the government should provide professional interpreters to assist the doctors. If the government is going require that interpreters are present then they should put more effort into paying the interpreters instead of leaving the expenses to the doctors. It is beneficial to the community that there are drives for state legislation that would pay for interpreters for poor immigrants. It also puts added stress on the doctors when they are required to pay for in interpreters. The cost for interpreters brings up another issue. Lincoln created another option, phone translation service, although this does make a interpreter more accessible, I believe the lack of body language can create an issue when it comes to the what the patients is actually saying and what the patient is trying to imply to the doctor. I also believe that hospitals should inform colleges around the country about this growing need. This can help because some students may need community service hours in order to graduate and I'm sure there are many doctors who are willing to work with language students. Both sides of the examinations will be greatly improve as the patients will receive the kind of care they need and the doctor's will not be in such a hassle to make the right diagnosis. I think that it is our government's duty to not only make laws for these issue but to provide for them as well. I think that the government should do more in the sense of training and paying for the interpreters.
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Drake, I think this is a very interesting topic that you decided to write on. I am now beginning to realize the importance of learning another language. I have experienced first hand what it is like to work with people who do not speak the same language. I have worked in the restaurant setting for almost three years now. The majority of the employees who work in the kitchen do not speak English. The Spanish that I have learned for over 6 years, is not enough to get me by to have a normal conversation with the Spanish-speaking workers.
Since I have seen how difficult it is to communicate with non-English speaking people, I have decided to continue my Spanish classes here at Wesleyan. I don’t think many employers can afford to hire interpreters. Over the next few decades, I think employers will start to only look for employees who can speak another language.
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