An Interview With an Interpreter

In practice

An older woman arrives with her adult son, who speaks English well and offers to translate. Her preferred language is not English. The medical assistant thanks the son and explains that the practice uses a medical interpreter for health conversations. She arranges one by phone, as the practice's policy directs. During the interview, she asks one question at a time and gives the interpreter time to relay each answer in full. When she asks about medications, the patient describes a remedy she takes from home, through the interpreter, and the medical assistant records it by the name the patient gives. When she reaches a sensitive question, she asks whether the patient would like her son to step out, and the patient says yes. With her son out of the room, the patient mentions dizziness that she had not wanted him to worry about. The medical assistant records the answer in the patient's words and tells the provider about it. Afterward, she notes in the record that a medical interpreter was used, and she includes the interpreter's identification as the practice requires.