Organization:
University of Memphis, School of Public Health, Memphis, TN, US

Dates:
April 13,14,20,21 and 28, 2013

Cost:
$760

Location:
University of Memphis

Target audience:
Existing medical interpreters, future medical interpreters, individuals interested in the profession and art of medical interpreters

Brief description:
The Health Care Interpreter Program is an intensive and specialized course offered two times a year, on two and a half consecutive weekends. The program follows the guidelines of the national standards for healthcare interpreting training programs. The curriculum and materials have been developed by Gayle Tang from Kaiser Permanente. The curriculum is divided into modules, which cover the basis of medical interpreting such as legal requirements, the roles of the interpreter, modes of interpreting, protocols for managing the session, standards of practice, code of ethics, culture, word-building structure, medical terminology, basic anatomy and the US healthcare system, to cite a few. The training consists of thirty hours of classroom instruction where the students learn the theory of medical interpreting and practice a diversified selection of oral dialogues with their classmates. The ten-hour Practicum shadowing takes place at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Methodist University Hospital, Memphis, TN.
Since its year of inception in 2007, about 120 students have already received certificates of completion of levels I and II. Classes are small and highly interactive. The instructor emphasizes cooperative learning, active participation, negotiation of meaning and critical thinking.

About the course instructor
Espi Ralston, MA, MAT, MA, CMI-Spanish, CHI has more than 30 years of experience in teaching languages to college students. She has also taught Spanish classes for healthcare providers to med students, doctors, nurses and students of allied health sciences. In 2004, she attended and completed a forty-hour Health Care Interpreter Train the Trainer in Oakland, CA from Kaiser Permanente and Hablamos Juntos (RWJF). In 2011, she completed a five-day Train the Trainer intensive workshop, taught by Holly Mikkelson and Katharine Allen, from Monterrey Institute (CA) in Nashville, TN. Mrs. Ralston currently works at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital as a medical interpreter.

For additional information, please visit www.memphis.edu/sph email Mrs. Ralston at espiralston@gmail.com or call her at 901 218-4691

Contact information:
Espi Ralston
Phone: 901-218-4691
Email: espiralston@gmail.com
Website: http://www.memphis.edu/pubh/interpreter.htm
Other info:
For additional information, please contact Dr. Marian Levy
Director, Master Program in Public Health at the UoMemphis
mlevy@memphis.edu