Toward a Common Approach:
Interpreter Training Programs, Interpreter Services, and the Interpreting Profession

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(Brochure)

The conference’s theme—“Toward a Common Approach”—reflects a sentiment expressed throughout the state by CHIA members and other professionals who seek agreement about codes of conduct and interpreter roles, standards for training and the delivery of services, and improved career opportunities.

This year’s conference will also mark the official release of the “California Standards for Healthcare Interpreters” developed by CHIA Standards and Certification Committee.

Program Highlights

 KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

Alice Chen, MD, ID, MPH

Health Policy Scholar in Residence, The California Endowment

 PLENARY AND WORKSHOP SESSIONS FOCUSING ON:

Healthcare Interpreter Training programs:
• Mt San Antonio College– Dr. Jesus Oliva

• San Francisco City College– Gayle Tang

• Collaborative curriculum in communities

Hospital Interpreter Services:
• Rancho Los Amigos – Lily Wong

• St. Joseph Hospital - X. Espinosa

• Medical interpreting via video conferencing–

Health Access Foundation, Sonia Dueño

Governmental Efforts:

• Guidance on Language Access–

The Office for Civil Rights, Karin Wang, JD

• Cultural and linguistic standards–L.A. County DHS,

Office of Diversity, Miya Iwataki

Interpreters and Translators:

• Telephone interpreting– Claudio Federico, TeleInterpreters,

• Translating documents– Joaquin Chan-Sanchez,  ATA Accredited Translator,

Policy and Advocacy groups:

• Advocacy at the state and national level– Jan Liu, APIAHF

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From the Current (Spring/Summer 2002) CHIA newsletter:

Our Theme for the 2002 CHIA Annual Conference
September 27/28
by Beverly Treumann, CHIA President

There is an emerging consensus among healthcare interpreters and advocates of access to healthcare for those limited in English proficiency.  At last year’s conference our keynote speaker, Holly Mikkelson, Associate Professor of Translation and Interpretation at Monterey Institute of International Studies, observed that while “healthcare interpreting started out as an unregulated profession, [we were] making progress toward developing internationally recognized standards for training, codes of conduct, and improved working conditions.” 

In the months following the conference, focus groups in four cities gave warm endorsements to CHIA’s draft Standards of Practice.  The draft document, while new to these reviewers, was found to be an expression of discussions that take place in similar venues about interpreting and patient access to care.  New CHIA members, inspired by the First Annual Conference, held their first chapter meeting in Sacramento in January.  Michelle Melrose writes in this issue that meeting participants “agreed upon the necessity to create a ‘community standard’ in the field of healthcare interpreting.”

Throughout the state we are saying that as healthcare interpreters, we want to meet consistent expectations from job to job.  As students in interpreter training programs, we want to be equipped for what will be expected of us in the job market.  As patient rights advocates, we know that when services are delivered effectively in some environments, this helps educate the consumers and they become their own advocates when services are not offered elsewhere.

This year’s CHIA conference promises to carry the consensus further.  We plan to structure the conference in a way that will enable participants to build networks that will help them with their work long after the conference closes.  The presenters and workshops will be important, but the measure of success at the end of the day will be: did you get to know your colleagues and find new possibilities for future collaborations?

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Why Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC)?

My first contact with Mt. San Antonio College was via Julie Burns of Bridging the Gap (see story in this issue).  She was leading a training in Santa Rosa in December.  I called to find out if there were people attending from Los Angeles who might be available to speak about the training at a chapter meeting.  While this idea never took shape, other ideas did.  Carmen Carrillo, the instructor to whom Julie referred me, soon made plans to bring the entire class to a chapter meeting.   All the students joined CHIA and helped take responsibility for a subsequent chapter meeting.  

Elizabeth Nguyen, Niels Agger-Gupta, and I met Bonnie Adams, Director Regional Health Occupations Resource Center, and Dr. Jesus Oliva, Director of the Welcome Back program at Mt. San Antonio College at The California Endowment convening of grant recipients in January.  The meeting was brief, but Bonnie took the opportunity to offer her full support for CHIA.