Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
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Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#2I can't imagine being a patient in pain trying to communicate that to a doctor who didn't speak the same language, especially when the pain was due to a different issue (as the article describes).
The pendulum has fully swung from "pain is a vital sign" to "suck it up" and "anyone who complains about pain is a liar or a drug seeker unless they're older than 65 or have a visible external wound."[1] It's difficult even when you speak the same language. I'm sure it's nearly impossible when you don't.
[1]: https://rehabs.com/pro-talk/how-to-get-labeled-a-pill-seeker...
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#3There has been a better option for a long time, called on-staff Medical Interpreters. In fact, my spouse worked as one for approximately seven years. Unfortunately due to hospitals consolidating into medical networks and cutting costs wherever they could, this went from on-staff interpreters, to contract interpreters, to on-call phone interpreters (works incredibly poorly), to google translate.
Blame the beurocrats running your hospital. The systems were in place, just have been absolutely gutted.
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
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Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
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Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#6There has been a better option for a long time, called on-staff Medical Interpreters. In fact, my spouse worked as one for approximately seven years. Unfortunately due to hospitals consolidating into medical networks and cutting costs wherever they could, this went from on-staff interpreters, to contract interpreters, to on-call phone interpreters (works incredibly poorly), to google translate. Blame the beurocrats r…
That approach is best for cases where it works, for example in areas where there is a large minority of speakers of a given language (Spanish in the US, for example). But if the patient speaks a language that is unusual for the area, finding an interpreter is going to be more difficult, or maybe not possible in some cases.
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#7There has been a better option for a long time, called on-staff Medical Interpreters. In fact, my spouse worked as one for approximately seven years. Unfortunately due to hospitals consolidating into medical networks and cutting costs wherever they could, this went from on-staff interpreters, to contract interpreters, to on-call phone interpreters (works incredibly poorly), to google translate. Blame the beurocrats r…
My SO had to seek medical attention in rural southern France (we were visiting Carcassone) - she initially sought care at the local emerg where there was not a translator available, she speaks high-school french but most of the conversation was carried out through miming and charades. A few days later, as instructed, she followed up with a local clinic where she prepared a written version of her condition and brought it in to show the doctor, they consulted that and again went through a song and dance to try and mime out the response.
I think it'd probably be nice if there was an english fluent person on staff at the emerg but I think it's unreasonable to expect local clinics to have support for translating especially when English is a rather unlikely language to be spoken in that area - having someone German and Italian literate would be nice and having someone Spanish literate (and, ideally, Basque literate) would be much more important.
If you're running a hospital in Vancouver you better have a French[1], Punjabi and Mandarin translator on staff - outside of those I think it's reasonable to rely on tools like Google Translate, it sucks but full language coverage isn't reasonable.
1. I think a French translator might be legally required due to the bilingual nature of Canada but it's honestly much less common on the west coast compared to Punjabi and Mandarin.
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#8I can't imagine being a patient in pain trying to communicate that to a doctor who didn't speak the same language, especially when the pain was due to a different issue (as the article describes). The pendulum has fully swung from "pain is a vital sign" to "suck it up" and "anyone who complains about pain is a liar or a drug seeker unless they're older than 65 or have a visible external wound."[1] It's difficult even…
A patient who is mentally challenged or who is unconscious may or won't have the vocabulary that would permit a physician to take a history.
Veterinarians deal with this daily as well.
In both cases, there are professional protocols to deal with the situation.
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#9There has been a better option for a long time, called on-staff Medical Interpreters. In fact, my spouse worked as one for approximately seven years. Unfortunately due to hospitals consolidating into medical networks and cutting costs wherever they could, this went from on-staff interpreters, to contract interpreters, to on-call phone interpreters (works incredibly poorly), to google translate. Blame the beurocrats r…
That approach is best for cases where it works, for example in areas where there is a large minority of speakers of a given language (Spanish in the US, for example). But if the patient speaks a language that is unusual for the area, finding an interpreter is going to be more difficult, or maybe not possible in some cases.
You have a similar problem with respect to criminal trials of defendants who speak minority languages. You can find a Khmer interpreter easily enough in Los Angeles, but good luck in Miami.
Re: Doctors who use Google Translate to talk to patients want a better option
#10There has been a better option for a long time, called on-staff Medical Interpreters. In fact, my spouse worked as one for approximately seven years. Unfortunately due to hospitals consolidating into medical networks and cutting costs wherever they could, this went from on-staff interpreters, to contract interpreters, to on-call phone interpreters (works incredibly poorly), to google translate. Blame the beurocrats r…
My SO had to seek medical attention in rural southern France (we were visiting Carcassone) - she initially sought care at the local emerg where there was not a translator available, she speaks high-school french but most of the conversation was carried out through miming and charades. A few days later, as instructed, she followed up with a local clinic where she prepared a written version of her condition and brought…
I had experience with the charades act. Got food poisoning or a stomach bug in Sofia, Bulgaria and had to act out vomiting and diarrhea at the chemists desk. Eventually they got the drift, opened a box of pills and gave me a sheet of them with no further instruction.
I think I could have been successful if I knew some French, but alas, I opted for Spanish in high school. At the time it seemed Bulgarians over a certain age had French for their second (or third) language, and the younger folks had English.