Specifics of medical translation

Health is undoubtedly the most precious value in our life. So, our primary task is to take care of our health. However, the technologies and equipment applied in the Ukrainian medicine often fall far behind the established requirements, which, in turn, created a demand for foreign developments, and so, for medical translations.

Translation of Medical Documents is a matter of particular responsibility. The translator is confronted with a set of difficult task whose proper execution is directly related to continuance of lives of many people. The translator is supposed to skillfully combine medical knowledge and linguistic expertise.

The basic difficulties occurring from medical translations include:

• Abundance of medical terminology (generally, of Latin origin);

• Abundance of medical terms and abbreviations;

• Unreadability (or, poor readability) of hand-written medical texts.

Medical translations are not simply difficult, but also feature a number of peculiarities. Therefore, a translator unknowledgeable in the sphere of medicine would most likely be of no help in doing medical translations. On the other hand, an expert specialist perfectly knowledgeable in a particular branch of medicine would never do any medical translation without proper knowledge in a foreign language.

The requirements to a translator of medical texts include:

• (As least) basic knowledge in medicine;

• Easy use of medical literature and specialized reference sources;

• Knowledge of Latin;

• Complete understanding of text.

Detailed below are some of medical translation types:

• Patient records, case records, opinions;

• Scientific medical articles;

• Leaflets for medical drugs;

• Manuals for laboratory equipment;

• Reference books.

Medical translation process

Medical translation must be exact and use the proper terminology, for that reason it is necessary expert translators in the science and practice of medicine so a mistake in medical translation can be mortal, and when patients' lives are in risk there are not space for errors.

Medical translation is a multi-step process, so it is usually done by translation agencies. This process includes the following steps:

Medical translation can be seen as a multi-step process. Steps in the process can include:

• Extraction of text from source format

• Translation – the conversion of the source language text to the target language text

• Editing – reading and revision by a separate person to assure adherence to approved terminology and the proper style and voice.

• Publishing – the translation is put back into the original format (e.g., Word document, Web page, e-learning program)

• Proofreading – this ensures that the formatted translation displays correctly with no corrupted text, has proper punctuation and line and page breaks are correct.

• In-country review – a native-speaking expert reviews the translation to ensure that it meets all specifications.