Why Translators & Interpreters Compare Themselves To Doctors & Lawyers

 A professional translator and interpreter should be seen in the same way as any professional in the medical or legal profession, because ultimately all three are intertwined.

"There are cases where a translator’s or interpreter's unique choice of words and how to render a phrase saved a life, or whose special knowledge of culture prevented a legal or political disaster, or whose expertise and skills are so critical to national security, that they do not ever talk about those jobs and have in fact played a crucial role in history." -Unknown.

In the medical field, translators translate textbooks used to study medicine, the manuals used for medical consultations and surgery equipment.

Interpreters interpret the communication between patients and doctors.

Precise translation and interpretation for a patient can mean the difference between life and death.

In the legal field, translators translate contracts and various legal documents used in and out of court.

Interpreters facilitate communication between lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants, witnesses, criminals and the court. 

Precise translation and interpretation, for a defendant, can mean the difference between freedom, a simple fine, jail time, life in prison or even the death penalty.

Then what makes the profession of a translator and interpreter similar to that of a doctor or lawyer? 

There are three major common factors that these three professions share: 

1) Extensive years of study, education and experience 

2) Vast fields of expertise and specialization 

3) Intellectually challenging work 

Let us examine and compare each in detail.

1. EXTENSIVE YEARS OF STUDY, EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Doctors

Physicians and surgeons have demanding education and training requirements. 

Almost all physicians complete at least 4 years of undergraduate school, 4 years of medical school, and, depending on their specialty, 3 to 8 years on internship and residency programs.

Learning does not end when physicians complete their residency or fellowship training. 

Doctors continue to receive credits for continuing medical education and some states require a certain number of CME credits per year to ensure the doctor's knowledge and skills remain current.

Continuing medical education requirements vary by state, by professional organizations, and by hospital medical staff organizations. [1],[2]

Lawyers

A lawyer usually takes 7 years of full-time study after high school—4 years of undergraduate study, followed by 3 years of law school. 

Most states require that applicants graduate from an ABA-accredited law school, pass one or more written bar exams, and be found by an admitting board to have the character to represent and advise others. 

Lawyers who want to practice in more than one state often must take separate bar exams in each state.

After graduation, lawyers must keep informed about legal developments that affect their practices. 

Almost all states require lawyers to participate in continuing legal education either every year or every 3 years. [4] 

Translators and Interpreters

Expert and native-speaker level for one or more foreign language, can take translators and interpreters a minimum of 5-10 years of study. 

For many it is a lifetime of study because they grow up communicating in the languages in which they work. 

Most professional translators and interpreters have a four-year bachelor's degree, several years of work related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.  

Translators and interpreters obtain credentials and language degrees from colleges, universities, associations and/or other recognized language programs.

"A competent translator [and interpreter] is not only bilingual but bicultural. A language is not merely a collection of words and of rules of grammar and syntax for generating sentences, but also a vast interconnecting system of connotations and cultural references whose mastery, writes linguist Mario Pei, 'comes close to being a lifetime job'." Mario Pei, The Story of Language

Learning does not end when they become qualified or certified translators and interpreters, professional organizations also require ongoing education.  

All professionals engage in some type of ongoing education via training, special event, conference or seminar. 

Translators and interpreters never truly master the language in its entirety, because language is constantly evolving and growing, thus making them life long learners. 

Professionals learn new terms, slang words, idioms every single day. 

They are constantly improving their skills, accumulating knowledge and experience. [6],[7],[8],[9]

1. EXPERTISE AND SPECIALIZATIONS

 

Below are condensed lists of the expertise fields and specializations for doctors, lawyers, translators and interpreters.

"The complexity of the translator's task cannot be overstated; one author suggests that becoming an accomplished translator — after having already acquired a good basic knowledge of both languages and cultures — may require a minimum of ten years' experience. Viewed in this light, it is a serious misconception to assume that a person who has fair fluency in two languages will, by virtue of that fact alone, be consistently competent to translate between them." -Kasparek, 'The Translator's Endless Toil' 

1. INTELLECTUALLY CHALLENGING WORK

Doctors

Communication skills. Physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators. They must be able to communicate effectively with their patients and other health care support staff.

Compassion. Physicians and surgeons deal with patients who are sick or injured and may be in extreme pain or distress. Physicians and surgeons must be able to treat patients and their families with compassion and understanding.

Detail oriented. Physicians and surgeons must ensure that patients are receiving appropriate treatment and medications. They must also monitor and record various pieces of information related to patient care.

Dexterity. Physicians and surgeons must be good at working with their hands. They work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences.

Leadership skills. Physicians who work in their own practice need to be effective leaders. They must be able to manage a staff of other professionals to run their practice.

Organizational skills. Some physicians own their own practice. Strong organizational skills, including good record keeping, are critical in both medical and business settings.

Patience. Physicians and surgeons may work for long periods with patients who need special attention. Children and adult patients who fear medical treatment may require more patience.

Physical stamina. Physicians and surgeons should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting or turning disabled patients. Surgeons may spend a great deal of time bending over patients during surgery.

Problem-solving skills. Physicians and surgeons need to evaluate patients’ symptoms and administer the appropriate treatments. They often need to do this quickly in order to save a patient’s life. [1],[2]

Lawyers

Analytic skills. Lawyers help their clients resolve problems and issues. As a result, they must be able to analyze large amounts of information, determine relevant facts, and propose viable solutions.

Interpersonal skills. Lawyers must win the respect and confidence of their clients by building a trusting relationship, so that clients feel comfortable and share personal information related to their case.

Problem-solving skills. Lawyers must separate their emotions and prejudice from their clients’ problems and objectively evaluate the matter. Therefore, good problem-solving skills are important for lawyers, to prepare the best defense and recommendation.

Research skills. Preparing legal advice or representation for a client commonly requires substantial research. All lawyers need to be able to find what applicable laws and regulations apply to a specific matter.

Speaking skills. Lawyers are hired by their clients to speak on their behalf. Lawyers must be able to clearly present and explain evidence to a judge and jury. 

Writing skills. Lawyers need to be precise and specific when preparing documents, such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney. [4]

Translators and Interpreters

"In...interpreting, it is not acceptable to omit anything from the source, no matter how quickly the source speaks, since not only is accuracy a principal canon for interpreters, but mandatory. The inaccurate interpretation of even a single word in a material can totally mislead...(Wikipedia)

Business skills. Self-employed professional interpreters and translators need general business skills to manage their finances and careers successfully. They must set fees for their services, bill customers, keep records, and market their services to build their client base.

Concentration. Interpreters must have the ability to concentrate while others are speaking or moving around them. Simultaneous interpreting (interpreting in 'real time' while others are speaking) is an extremely complex mental task, requiring concentration far beyond what most people usually experience. Interpreting has been compared to working as an air traffic controller.

Cultural sensitivity. Interpreters and translators must be sensitive to cultural differences and expectations among the people whom they are helping to communicate. Successful interpreting and translating is not only a matter of knowing the words in different languages but also of understanding people’s cultures. When localizing, a translator is customizing the translation to a particular market and culture suitable and familiar to the target audience.

Dexterity. Sign language interpreters must be able to make quick and coordinated hand, finger, and arm movements when interpreting.

Interpersonal skills. Interpreters and translators, particularly those who are self-employed, must be able to get along with those who hire or use their services in order to retain clients and attract new business.

Language skills. Interpreters and translators must have a very good knowledge, excellent command, and profound understanding of the written and spoken language, its etymology and idiomatic expressions. The translators and interpreters function is to convey every language element, tone, register, intention, and feeling of the message from the source language to the target language.

Listening skills. Interpreters must listen carefully when interpreting for audiences to ensure that they hear and interpret correctly. Interpreters sometimes take short notes to help recall key words or numbers.

Research skills. Translators must deal with jobs with long, complex, and even profound series of choices which a translator must make; of not just how to render a given word, but most often a phrase or paragraph.

Speaking skills. Interpreters and translators must speak clearly in the languages they are conveying. 

Writing skills. Interpreters and translators must be able to write clearly and effectively in the languages they translate. A translators must be very skilled because a single source text has dozens, hundreds perhaps thousands of possible translations. [6],[7],[8],[9]

As you can see, translators and interpreters do not compare their services to the services of a doctor or lawyer; but more a comparison of the similarities in the lengthy education, numerous specializations and the intellectually challenging nature of their profession.

Some food for thought: In certain multibillion-dollar and the classified markets, translators and interpreters are paid fees higher than most working attorneys and many physicians.

As always, thank you for reading and sharing my posts. 

 Feel free to connect or email me, Carmen Arismendy. I'm a professional Spanish interpreter-translator and founder of eLingual.Net. I started the eLingual Network because I could not find a fair, no middleman, no job bidding, ethical and transparent meeting place for translators, interpreters and clients online. The website is in beta phase and by no means perfect but it's a step in the right direction.

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Sources

1. Requirements for Becoming a Physician. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/becoming-physician.page?
2. Summary: How to become a doctor. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/physicians-and-surgeons.htm#tab-4
3. Category:Medical doctors by specialty. (Wikipedia). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Medical_doctors_by_specialty
4. Summary. How to become a lawyer (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/legal/lawyers.htm#tab-4
5. Legal Specialty Areas. (Legal Authority Articles). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from https://www.linkedin.com/redir/invalid-link-page?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2elegalauthority%2ecom%2Flegal-specialty-areas%2ephp
6. Summary translator and interpreter. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://www.bls.gov/ooh/media-and-communication/interpreters-and-translators.htm#tab-4
7. Language interpretation. (Wikipedia). Retrieved March 3, 2015, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_interpretation
8. Translation (Wikipedia). Retrieved March 3, 2015, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Translation#Translators
9. 27-3091.00 - Interpreters and Translators. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2015, fromhttp://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/27-3091.00