Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Interpretpedia. If you feel lost trying to select the right training to get you started in a medical interpreting career or to prepare you for a certification, this video is for you. Questions about medical interpreter training programs or schools are among the most common that I get. So I hope this can help you figure out how to make the right choice for you. If you're new here, my name is Rosa. I'm an interpreter, and here I like to share resources, reviews, and the occasional rant about all things interpreting. So if you're into that, make sure to hit subscribe. Now let's get started. The first place where you should research when you're looking for the right medical interpreter training is within yourself, to figure out where you are and how you want to do this. To establish where you are, and this is me oversimplifying it, I would basically narrow it down to two categories. Are you completely new to this career, or do you have some experience? Most training programs designed for healthcare interpreters cover all the basics. That means they teach about the interpreter role, ethics and standards of practice, and medical terminology. I would say that if you have some experience, a course like this may be enough to not only meet the prerequisites of the certification programs, but also to actually help you pass the certification tests. By the way, I made another video where I go into great detail about the certification programs for medical interpreters, so if you haven't already, you can go ahead and check it out. If you have no experience whatsoever, I would say you would benefit from the most comprehensive course possible. To me, that means a course that would include everything I already mentioned, plus it would be a language specific course, which I feel offers an added value compared to language neutral alternatives, because you'll most likely get glossaries and bilingual resources, and you'll get to practice in two languages. It would also include training on interpreting techniques and skills in different modalities used in healthcare, which are consecutive for the most part, but also sight translation and even some simultaneous. The course would have scripted scenarios for you to practice and to have your performance reviewed by an experienced instructor. Ideally, the course would also have written and oral tests for you to take, and the cherry on top would be if the school would also provide some type of internship, shadowing opportunities or supervised practices in real life encounters. I have even seen courses advertise that they offer potential job opportunities for some of their students. Another thing you should consider is how you would like to do this, meaning, do you prefer to attend in-person classes or do you prefer to do it online? If you are the type of person that prefers in-person classes, check out what is available in your area, because for example, when I was looking for a course, that wasn't even an option for me because of where I lived. If you prefer the online format, there are different modalities for you to consider. Would you like an online course, but with live classes with an instructor at a set schedule? Would you like an online course that is completely self-paced with recorded lessons, or would you like a hybrid approach where you have some live classes and some recorded lessons? Another factor to consider is time. Some courses have specific enrollment periods or are only available during certain times of the year, while others are available year round, so this is something else you need to consider if you have deadlines to meet. Finally, think about your budget. Based on my research, these courses range from a few hundred up to thousands of dollars. Some of these courses offer payment plans, discounts, and even scholarship options, so make sure to ask about that when you select a course. I know there is a lot to think about, but like I said in the beginning, the first place where you need to research is within yourself, and all of this will help you narrow down what is the best type of course for you. You may not find everything you're looking for in a single course, but keep in mind that you can take a combination of different courses that give you everything that you need. For example, I took an online course in a hybrid modality, so some live classes and some pre-recorded ones, but the course didn't offer any actual practices. For me, that was okay because I already had experience as a telephonic interpreter, but I wasn't good at taking notes by hand, so I took a note-taking course that helped me improve that specific skill. Once you have a good idea of what you're looking for, it's time to actually start looking. You can always start with a simple internet search, but there are some references that different organizations have put together, so let's take a look at a few of those. You can find all the links I will show you in the description box. This is CCHI's list of online prerequisite programs. As you can see, they have the list divided into two groups, one for online programs and one for on-site programs. There's a brief description of each program, including the number of hours of training you would get, the program's format, links, and contact information, which comes in handy during your research, but check this out. It clearly says these are paid listings, so that doesn't mean that this is a full list of all programs that can help you meet the prerequisites of the CCHI certification. Now let's check out NBCMI. As you can see, the NBCMI does not offer an actual list. Instead, they refer candidates to review the lists posted by iMEA and CHIA. So let's take a quick look at those. iMEA has two different lists, and to me, this was a bit confusing, so I did some research to figure out what was the difference. One list is dedicated to training organizations that have been accredited by iMEA. So basically, they have a special distinction or seal of approval because they've met iMEA's accreditation standards. The second list is iMEA's education registry, and it's where most training programs are listed. There is a search tool where you can narrow down your options based on where you are located and what type of course you're looking for. FYI, the companies listed here have also paid to be advertised. Lastly, CHIA is the California Healthcare Interpreting Association and offers a very comprehensive list, which I like because it gives you a lot of great options to take college-level courses, although of course, they are in California. They also offer a list of short courses from private providers, some of which are online, so these would be great options for those of us who are not in California, but I would prefer to see a dedicated list for online courses only since right now, because of the way it's set up, you have to comb through the page to find them. Here, there is no fine print because CHIA clearly states that it does not promote or endorse any of these programs. As you can see, the bottom line is we are responsible for doing our own research to determine which one is the right training for us. So once you've narrowed down your options, contact the companies to ask them questions, verify that the course is accepted by CCHI or NBCMI as prerequisites for their programs if you're going for that, and look for references from former students. Remember that this career is a commitment to lifelong learning and we will always need to invest in our professional education. Unfortunately, not all of us can afford to take classes at that renowned Institute of International Studies at Monterey, but you would be amazed at the level of proficiency you can achieve over the years with a good combination of these short courses and a lot of self-study. Good luck on your search and do not despair because the right course for you is out there. Anyway, that was it for today. Thank you so much for watching. Adios.