How I Became a Medical Interpreter: My Journey and Tips for You (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Hi everyone, I'm Jeanette, welcome to my channel Interpreting Simplified. I've been a medical interpreter for 8 years and so today I'm going to share with you how I became a medical interpreter and how you can too. Now I'm going to tell you a little bit about my journey, why I became an interpreter, how I became an interpreter and when I became an interpreter. So I initially wasn't looking specifically to be a medical interpreter, what happened is that I found myself unemployed for the first time in my life ever and I had an opportunity to really decide what it is that I wanted to do with my life, career wise at that point. I remembered having an interest in interpreting in the past and so I decided to kind of explore that a little bit and do a little research and I found that you can be a court interpreter and the salary they were offering at the downtown court was pretty decent. So I decided to do some research and kind of explore that field, trying to get information on how to become any kind of interpreter is like breaking into the CIA headquarters, it's really hard. Things aren't clear, there's so many different suggestions, there's so much information out there and you don't know which one is legit or which one is just trying to get money out of you. So I spent a lot of time doing the research, I finally found that there was a program at Cal State LA to get a certification from them for legal interpreting and that just pretty much prepared you for the state test. So I took the course, got that certification, I thought I was ready for the state test, I decided to go for it. The written test I passed with flying colors, the verbal test is a four part test for those of you that don't know, and you have to pass all four parts or none of it counts. So when I took it, I passed three of the parts with flying colors and the fourth one I missed by a point, one point. I was so upset, I was devastated, but I still didn't get discouraged, I wasn't going to give up on that and I decided, okay, I just have to study some more and try to take it again. During that process, I had a friend who was working at a medical clinic and she was transitioning to another job and she calls me up and she says, hey, I'm going to recommend you for this position as a medical interpreter at this clinic. I was like, I'm not a medical interpreter and she said, but you're an interpreter and all you have to do is work on the vocabulary and get experience in the process. So I thought, okay, fine, I'll be an interpreter, I'll use that experience to help me prepare for this legal interpreting test. Long story short, because it's a very long story, I was working at this medical clinic and then I just really started to value being a medical interpreter. I started to really appreciate and love what I do at that clinic. I realized that I was a part of this healthcare team, I was a crucial part of bridging that communication gap between the providers and the families and the families were so appreciative and everybody seemed to really need my help during those appointments, encounters. It was just, the experience was great. So I realized that maybe I should just stay as a medical interpreter. That's when I found out that you can also be a certified medical interpreter, which is something that I had no knowledge of before I started working there. So I did the research and I decided I'm not going to pursue the legal interpreting thing anymore. I'm just going to go for my medical interpreter certification. I went through the process, I did what I had to do and I got certified. Now, if you're interested in becoming a medical interpreter, or even if it's not something that you've ever considered, I want to encourage you to look into it or to consider it because it's a lot of fun. You're helping people. You don't need a bachelor's to get started. It pays a good salary and you can acquire your certification in a relatively short period of time, depending on how fast you move, and your certification is nationwide. If you want further information, you can continue to follow my channel. Now this was just a brief introduction. If you want to know more, hit subscribe, it's free, and look out for future videos. Thank you.