Call for Papers

DEADLINE - APRIL 20, 2012

2013 International Medical Interpreters Conference

Specialized Interpreting
Getting Beyond the Basics: Exploring Quality Interpreting for Multiple Specialties*

Come Join Us to Celebrate IMIA's First Conference outside Boston!

January 18 - 20, 2013
Miami Beach, Florida
USA

Medical interpretation is a very specialized field that has evolved over time into the fastest growing specialization of interpreting practice.

The overriding mission of this conference is to offer an international forum to showcase the latest developments in the field, to investigate its opportunities and challenges, and to advance the quality in services provided to language minority patients worldwide.

We are proud to announce that this year the theme of the conference was selected by IMIA members through a membership poll.


Thematic Questions:

Research:
1. What research is taking place regarding how medical interpreters are addressing specialized terminology with no term equivalents in the target language?
2. Is adequate knowledge of medical specialties a plus or a must for medical interpreters?
3. How are medical interpreters being defined in current research?
4. How much interpreting is occurring in non-specialized environments?
5. How can we narrow the divide between research and practice?

Education:
1. What medical specialties should be included in initial interpreter educational programs?
2. Are training/educational programs getting beyond the basics?
3. Is 40 hours of medical interpreter training enough to develop competency that ensures safe and accurate communication in a health care setting?
4. Can community interpreter training meet the educational needs of medical interpreters?
5. How are the established university interpreting programs responding to the growing demand for quality education in health care interpreting?

Practice:
1. What are some of the best practices in specialty subject matter expertise sharing?
2. Are interpreters specializing in one or more fields?
3. What happens when interpreters practice in a particular specialty, for example, a Women’s Health or Behavioral Health Clinic?
4. What are the benefits of specialization to interpreter practitioners?
5. How is national certification for medical interpreters affecting the profession?

Ethics:
1. What is actually happening when interpreters are called to interpret in cases of rare diseases or specialties that they are not familiar with?
2. How are medical interpreters coping with daily ethical dilemmas?
3. Interpreting for family when you are a professional. Is that ethical?
4. How do medical ethics converge with interpreter ethics?
5. How do professional interpreters who are not specialized in health care respond ethically to situations unique to the health care setting?

We encourage innovative ideas for presentations and activities that support the thematic questions of the conference.

The format of the conference is grounded in professional networking and workshop sessions that maximize audience participation, complemented by interactive plenary sessions on key professional issues. IMIA provides a forum for new and well-established experts in the field to develop their work side by side. This conference seeks to facilitate learning as an ongoing, dynamic and social process, and strives to offer engaging sessions in which diverse participants can form bonds, participate as learners and teachers, and feel integral to the learning process. We believe presenters should make content relevant and meaningful, and offer ways to process information through dialogue, reflection, and application.

Members also requested the following workshop topics, so the Selection Committee will give preferences to these topics:
*  Spanish translation/interpretation of medical terms unique to the USA healthcare system.
*  Marketing Strategies for Freelance Medical Interpreters and Translators
*  Debriefing from heavy encounters. How do interpreters manage after dealing with serious/heavy encounters?
*  End of life related topics: Palliative and Hospice care; pain management; Advance Health Care Directive; POLST/MOLST; Communication at end of life.
*  We still need workshops about how to deal with racism, inequalities, non-compliance with Title VI!
*  Also, independent contractors still need help with financial planning and how to pay their taxes; how to get own healthcare insurance
*  Debriefing after complicated encounters.
*  Internationalization of Medical Interpreting Standards
*  Productivity tools for the professional translator
*  Using media to inform language minority patients of their rights to language assistance
*  Medical terminology Spanish-English & English-Spanish
*  Interpreting in issues that deal with End of Life or Palliative Care.
*  Interpreter Supervision based on DC Schema by Robyn Dean--how is this tool of benefit to language interpreters?
*  Vicarious Trauma and Interpreters, how can we be our best advocates for our sanity!
*  Seeking and securing funds for healthcare translators/interpreters' education and national certification
*  Language Access for All
*  Tools to implement language assessment of medical providers.
*  A workshop on where to find the best resources and materials for developing or updating an interpreter program
*  Interpreting longer segments - selective note taking and memory skills practice
*  Medical Interpreting and Global Health: Connecting the Dots
*  How to reduce anti-certification among already employed noncertified interpreters.
*  Ensuring Patient Understanding