The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2017 - 10

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FEATURED FACEBOOK POST
American Translators
Association
June 19

Stephen Watts on Co-Translation
"There are as many models
for co-translation as there are
(co-) translators, and so there
is no one 'model.' But for me,
face-to-face communication is
usually really important. There
is, of course, great scope in
social media, through skyping
or e-mailing, and this can
work very well. But personally,
I greatly value being face-toface with my co-translators
so that I can see and feel
the words coming from their
mouths and bodies."
Learn more:
http://bit.ly/CoTranslation

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Remote Interpreting: Feeling Our Way into the Future I Barry Slaughter Olsen
It was very interesting to read Barry
Slaughter Olsen's article in the MayJune issue. I've just experienced the full
impact of this change in my work as a
medical interpreter. I hope my story can
help explain why the change to remote
interpreting has been viewed in a negative
light so far in this field and how we can
improve the situation.
Last February the health care network
where I've worked for the past five years
let 50 of my interpreter colleagues go.
About 20 of our team remained. Only
10 of us were in full-time positions,
since an interpreter was needed to cover
each hospital and two interpreters were
necessary to cover all the clinics in town.
The rest of the work was left to phone and
video remote interpreting.
I was probably one of the people left on
the team because I've always promoted
the use of new technology. At the clinic
where I worked, I prompted nurses to
use phone interpreters for all phone calls

to patients. I was expecting the arrival of
an iPad, hoping it could be used for the
appointments that my colleague and I
couldn't cover, or so we could finally take
some time off without leaving the clinic
unattended. We also started discussing
plans to implement telemedicine. I had
also suggested the possibility of having
us be able to work remotely, considering
one of the clinic's big challenges was the
limited amount of space available.
When the health care network's
leadership implemented remote
interpreting technology, it happened very
swiftly. They didn't ask for feedback from
interpreters or providers, and they didn't
consider the differences in needs and
requirements for each setting, like Mr.
Olsen's article very wisely recommends.
The implementation of remote
interpreting capability turned out to
be a fantastic development for many
areas within the health care network.
Adult clinics, for example, had language

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10

The ATA Chronicle | July/August 2017

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The ATA Chronicle - July/August 2017
