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6THEIAPANTIMEsMoNDAY;sEPTEMBER3,2012

interpretation&translation/world

Osakagroupleadsthewayinmedical interpreting
Multilingualphysicianbsystemtoheipnon‑Japanesespeakingpatients……一一

becomesamodelforotherhospitalsasmedIcaltourismincreases
JohnAshburne
SPECIALTOTHEJAMNTIMESOsaka

DLKaoriMinamtf皿iscleal1ynotonetoshilkachallenge,asevincedbyherbackgroundand
groundblfealdngmedicalmtel>
PretingprogramrunthroughRinkuGeneralMedicalCenter's
mmternadOnalCliniCml烈皿m‑sano,Osaka,justaEve‑minutehopacrosstherailbridgehom
KapsailntemationalAixport.""Ileft]apanfbrSouthAmenca

andencouragnglhehands‑onsmdyofmedical interpreljng

medicalintelpreterTbmio"Tbml'FIndnanslation.
Imediatastands fbrthem‑

UniversiWGraduateSchoolof

temationalMedicalmtelpreters

tors,nurses,othermedicalper.

andnanslatorsAssociarion. It

isalsothePortuguesewordibr

Kado, a lectureratDoshisha

Busmessmboto,hstingdoc‑
sonnel,conferenceintelpreters,educators,companypeopleand'ispeedy/'anapplopriatename

retirees,amongmanyothers.

fbranorganizationdedicatedtofacmtamgsmoothconunu‑
mcationbetweennon‑Japanese
spealdngpatientsandmedical

amonglhestafflmetatlme‑
diatawasNobukoSuzuld,apro‑
fessionalEn"sh‑languageedu‑

practidonersmthehectiC,non‑catorand!'hlll‑1ime･moml'who

AsiftonlusbfatehispointjＩstopemﾉiromnemthatiSabusy

completedmedicalmtexpreter

whenlwasllyearsoldbecause
ofmyfatherlsbusinessﾉ' saidurbangeneralhospital.
ThepolyJotMinanntam(ShealsoSpeaksEngishandSpamsh)

1rainingmSeme.
hnediatals public

Osaka‑bomMinamitani, direc‑

fbundedthe35‑membePsnsong

specialisb

torofRGMC'sHealthCareCen‑

teI; l'TherelleamedPortuguese
andqualihedasadoctol:When
IcamebaCktoJapan,Ididitall

reladons

head andSpanish language
Ybko

Kawamukai,

gDUpasanonprontorgamza‑

describedthestarttoamedical

1ionmNOvember2000withthe

intelpreterlstypicalwoddngday
atthehospita1.

e"licitmissionto4promotedle
healtlicareandwelfareofnon‑

Japanesespeakersandtocreate
aharmomoussocietybyremov=

10Wegatherat9:50a.m.mour
o伍ce.anddonourpagersand"Tbm''Kado,founderDMKaoriMinamitani,DItShigeolrimajiri,(backrow,fromleft)Nobuko

ourwhite 'p伍cial intelpreter'

SuzukiandWkoKawamukai｡

Tbwn,whichwithitsgiantdis‑
countshOppmgoutietisatemtemglanguageandculn江albarri‑gowns/'shesaid."Thisisanim‑

ersthroughmedicalmtelpretinghotelsandshゆtlyfOdom一Ferris
wheelhardlyseemstosuggesta

andtranglation!'Tmedねfaisat

portantariicleofdothing,asit

cmeandane"lanationofhow

conveystothepatientsourpro‑

overagain,thistimemJapanese!'
RGMCislocatedwithinRinku

cruciblefbrinnovation.Itishere,･
howeveIj lhatMinamitamhas

latie"SuppOrt:MediCalinterpretersofthelmediatagroupinclude(frontrow,lefttoright)Tbmio
JoHNAsHBuRNE

fUlllybnefedwhenthepatient
retunlsfbrafOnowupconsulta‑

traclingatteniionhomhospitals

fessionalism.Itencourageslhem

totakeit.
'iThefrsttwminutesmacrosslheregionasamodelfbr

totrustusI'

whichweseelhenon‑Japanese

Ongomgselfmomtormgand

Thatmlst‑buildingisakey

spealdngpatientsarecrucialfbr

educatiOnisalsocrucialtothe

pointfOrtheteam,whosejob

bodlthemandus,aswemust

itistosupportanon‑Japanese
spealdngpatiemlhroughevery
stepofthehoSpital.vismｹhomihe

determine their backgrounds
andneeds, andtheyneedto
feelasenseofbemgsupported,
something lhatWemaintaingroup.Patientsupport iscon‑
ductedmpairswithasemor
inte]preterwolkingalongsidea
medicalsupportelｩmalnemor

theirfUtureprogams.

establishedhnediata,aprogres‑

1'Ourmemberscomehomallsivesystemfbr implementing

walksoflife/' saide"erienced

initialreceptionthroughwriting
downthenatiRni'gnQTRnnfi1rIP̲

h･nTn

tailsdesclzibmglhecircmnstanc‑esandcunfemandpastmedical

ourhospitaltothemomemthey

thp

TmnmPn↑ fhPvPnfQT
づ

leave/'Kawamukaisaid.

condition, toiheconsultation

Oncelhepatiemhaslefbthe

wiihthedoctopanyfbnowup

intelpreterreturnstomeacase‑tesdngsudlasbloodtestsandX

smdyreport thatensures therays,tothedispensmgofmedi‑

nextlmediatastafmemberis

donorreal‑mentsmdemrelationship,alllhewhne
heingmQnitoxed』呼』鯉要唾惑"litoensurelhatall‑importantac‑
curacyismaintainedandthe

overallqualiiyoflheprogam
continuouslyhnproves.Astime

progresses, 1heStlpportersbe‑
comesemorintexpreters.

i'mothertypesofmtelpretingW

HoWtCreCeiVemoe胴brmat崎能:FOrthosereaderSWhoWoUldlikefdreCeive:5brOdMf':γ鍔:!:鐸熱:』：, f :ハツ…*=､ :灘: : ､r. j.･ f ： 、 /"i ' …:､ ： :､Forthosereade『swhoWoUldliI<et6reCeive:abrodiire脆欣f;:j

theschooiSadVeItisingbeloVMpleaSeSendanemaiI吋h饅戦nlerealsldnneededistoconvey
medicaltermsmlanguagelhatthelaypersoncanunderstandI'
DmShigeohimajiri,chiefdi‑
XectorofRGMC'sIhelunatology

departmentwhohaspracticed
miheUS,, agfeed: '!Wedon't‑Beefts‑観装テキe‑pMiems一命e瞳tanordnopedicsurgeon.Weten
1hemtheyhavetoseelhebone
doctolf'

l'Thereisnomagicroadthat
leadstobecomingamedicalm‑
terpretelj'Kadosaid. ''Wefbrm
smdygroupS,butweallhaveo虹dinerentwys.IEndRObm
CookIsmedicalnovelssuchas

butwehavetolhinkonourfeet

fanshereofiheTVseries'ERIIts

asweneverlmowWhatwewill

e"lanationofcomplexmedical
temlinologymlayman'stennsis
avaluablesmdyresourcefbrusj′encountereachdayhYbuneed

Y,WbU[:namaaddress,WithpoalcOde;phoi]e"mb"am伽自tobegoodwithpeOpleanda
senseoflnnnorhelpspatiemsto
relaxduringWhatisinninsicaly瀦撫蝋溌蝋空…恥華蕊塞

gfaSpofdeeplytechmcalterms.

allygivensometimetoprepare,toresearchthesubjectmattelj

Japa師imesCrossmediaatjtad@japantimeS亨cOjPWitI曲畿溌：．
． ｛．
、1b11oⅧngjn1brmatiom〆、〃、
J,"j:､"､X《 :八; ､"":縦職鎌雛報

PIaceofinnovation:View.oftheentrancetoRinkuGeneral
MedicalCenterinlzumisanO,Osaka・ JOHNASHBURNE

Kawamukaisaid,. ('youareusu‑

scarnydifncultj'saidKado, (!butmfacljyoudon'tneedahuge

asnfessfillprocess・Wemaint2inobjeCtivimbutihereisalarge
elementofintelpersonalcom‑
mlmiCalioninvolved.
I "VVealsolnustbesensijive!Outbreak'usem,andweareall

Professionalismandenlh''si‑asIn2江edeal1yevidemmhne‑

matalswork.ThepmgamlSeJG
ceUenceservesasaperfectrolemodelfbranyhospitalwishmg
toimproveitsappeal tonon‑

tolhepajiem'sspecincculturalJapanese.Speaking.patients.Yet
jobopportunitiesmtheneldre‑

baCkgfomld,mparticular the

mainlimitedasolherhospitals

cultureofmedicmeandheal‑

mg丘omwhichlheycome/'sheadded.

Thereisalsoadiplomaticelemem.

"mJapan,nfaditionally) thereisaclea]Jyunequalpowerre‑lationshipbetweenthedoctor

andlhepatient, anditisour
jobtoensurelhat thepatient
feelssupportedandateaSe/'shesaid.!AndletIsnotfbrgetthatthe

playcatch‑upmthewolkthat
Minamitaniandherconeagues
pioneeredoveradecadeago.
Thereareculturalbamers,tOO.

jiJUdicial intelpreterscane)E
peCttoeamover¥20,000perm‑
alﾉ'Kawamllkaisaid, I'butmedi‑

calintelpretinghaslong‑andunhir1y‑beenconsidereda
pseudo≦volunteeractiviWRGMC

healthprofessionals,too,canfeel

issomethingofanexception,
butstill,compensationratesare

hushfatedwhenalinguistiCor

low!'culturalgapprevemsthemhom
communicaUngl'
Everylong‑tennnon‑Japanese
spealdngresidemhasafavorite
j1lostmbanslation"anecdote,and.hoSPitalstoriesnotsurpris‑
mgyabound, gvendifferent

nlereiscause,howeveIi fbr
cautiousOptimismthatoneday

fledgedprQfession.Minamitani

socialmoresandlhecomplex

systemfbrmedicalintelpreters

nahIreofmedicine.

I'Itisnltuncommonfbralapa‑
neseradiologistjwhenviewinga
patientIsshadow‑丘eeXrays,tosay> !Munegaldreidesune/or
hterally) 'Yburbreastsmm･ebeau‑tihll/"唾wamukaisaid. IJCleal1y)weneedtointerpretthatplnfase
carehJllyWegofbranon‑literal,
4TherearenodoudsI''

4!Medicalinterpreiingsounds

1heheldwillgfowmtoafull‑isadvismgseveralgovemmem
agenciesontheestabUshmem

ofanationalstandardizedtestingandl工anslators.Wilhlhosesame

agencieslooldngatpotentiallylargegrowlilmmedicaltou1←
ismhfomChinaandSmgapore,itmaytulnouttobeagfowth
mdusUyafter狙．
''Don'tbedaumed/' Kado

said. IiItmaynotbethemosth‑
nanciallyrewardingjob,butlilis
isaboutasmentallyrewardinga
jobasitgetsI'