Being part of any team during my third year of medical school allowed me to help patient care in expected ways as well as unexpected ways. I do not know why I didn’t expect to use my Spanish skills to translate for my patients but I found this skill to be a double edge sword. I have been treating Spanish-speaking patients since my first year of medical school while being a coordinator at la Clinica Latina. I spoke to my patients in Spanish and translated their problems to my attending but I never felt like a translator while working at la Clinica Latina. Working in the inpatient setting allowed me to be both a translator as well as a student-physician who spoke to their patients in Spanish. I enjoyed seeing my patient’s face light up because they had found someone with a white coat who spoke Spanish. I felt encouraged by several members of my team to help out other teams having problems getting Spanish translators. Having patients being discharged with the knowledge to take care of themselves or the knowledge of when to come back to the hospital remains one of my main goals of practicing medicine, whether it is in another language or not. Clinica Latina taught me that having the knowledge of another language goes a really long way.
While working inpatient I came about the dilemma of whether I should interpret for other people’s patients or give them the number for the translating services. I carry a tag behind my ID that has the operator number with all the language options and I have in the past relayed the message to residents looking for interpreters. However, whenever I have had the option of translating for Spanish patients, I have made sure to offer my services. I am not a certified medical interpreter but I feel comfortable interpreting because I have worked at la Clinica Latina for over 2 years and to work at this clinic I had to finish a medical interpreter course showing my proficiency. In addition, in undergraduate, I took a semester course on medical Spanish. If I wasn’t comfortable interpreting for vulnerable patients I would not do it. However, I have come across other members of my team which are very against using medical students as language interpreters. One person preferred calling the operator and using certified interpreters and when I asked her why, she mentioned that she wanted her patients to have 100% of the right information. However, patients respond more effectively when talking face to face with an interpreter instead of listening or even video-chatting with a medical interpreter. After this experience, I gained a hesitance to offer my Spanish language knowledge because I do not want to come off as that medical student who offers the same thing over and over again. I did not agree with her explanation but I respected her patient-centered explanation and outlook on patient care.
I have been part of a research project for the past two to three years on the communication between physicians and Spanish-speaking patients. However, during this project I never saw myself as a translator but as a physician who would speak two languages. The task of interpreting during my third year of medical school was often very rewarding and most unexpectedly thought-provoking.