The next IMIA (International Medical Interpreters Association) Conference will take place in Miami Beach, Florida, January 18-20, 2013.
The topic of the 2013 event has been chosen by IMIA members directly via poll and will be “Specialized Interpreting - Getting Beyond the Basics: Exploring Quality Interpreting for Multiple Specialties”
“The overriding mission of this conference is to offer an international forum to showcase the latest developments in the field, to investigate its opportunities and challenges, and to advance the quality in services provided to language minority patients worldwide.”
Thematic Questions:
Research:
1. What research is taking place regarding how medical interpreters are addressing specialized terminology with no term equivalents in the target language?
2. Is adequate knowledge of medical specialties a plus or a must for medical interpreters?
3. How are medical interpreters being defined in current research?
4. How much interpreting is occurring in non-specialized environments?
5. How can we narrow the divide between research and practice?
Education:
1. What medical specialties should be included in initial interpreter educational programs?
2. Are training/educational programs getting beyond the basics?
3. Is 40 hours of medical interpreter training enough to develop competency that ensures safe and accurate communication in a health care setting?
4. Can community interpreter training meet the educational needs of medical interpreters?
5. How are the established university interpreting programs responding to the growing demand for quality education in health care interpreting?
Practice:
1. What are some of the best practices in specialty subject matter expertise sharing?
2. Are interpreters specializing in one or more fields?
3. What happens when interpreters practice in a particular specialty, for example, a Women’s Health or Behavioral Health Clinic?
4. What are the benefits of specialization to interpreter practitioners?
5. How is national certification for medical interpreters affecting the profession?
Ethics:
1. What is actually happening when interpreters are called to interpret in cases of rare diseases or specialties that they are not familiar with?
2. How are medical interpreters coping with daily ethical dilemmas?
3. Interpreting for family when you are a professional. Is that ethical?
4. How do medical ethics converge with interpreter ethics?
5. How do professional interpreters who are not specialized in health care respond ethically to situations unique to the health care setting?
Continue reading on the IMIA webpage here – more information on the conference and how to reply to the call for speaker are also available on the page.
Deadline for the call for papers is April 20, 2012.
Complete info: http://www.imiaweb.org/conferences/2013callforpapers.asp
