Welcome to the California Chapter of the IMIA. The IMIA's goal is for all IMIA Chapters to flourish to meet all the needs of the members of each region. While the IMIA is international it believes in the 'Think Global, Act Local' motto. We will have periodic conference calls to allow members in this region to network and find ways to advance the profession together in the region. Please email your representative with ideas, issues, and topics that you think should be discussed. The IMIA believes that organizing an IMIA Symposium each year in each state should be a key goal of the Chapter. If you are willing to volunteer to assist, please let your representative know.
On Saturday June 23rd, 2018 Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and team members from the Language and Culture Services department hosted the International Medical Interpreters Association's (IMIA) regional conference in Los Angeles, California. With the help of the IMIA California State Chapter Chair and CHLA staff, Amani Zaki, the conference held around 120 attendees from different parts of California as well as out of state participants.
The keynote speech was given by Dr. Glenn Flores titled "Dissatisfied, Misdiagnosed, and at Risk to Die: Patients with Language Barriers and Why Healthcare Systems Endanger Their Lives by Not Providing Professional Interpreters"
Following the Keynote speech was a plenary session titled "Optimizing Language Services Programs: Technology and Interpreter Role Development". The session was moderated by Amani Zaki and on the panel were Lori Marshall and Marlon Duarte representing CHLA. The afternoon was breakout workshop sessions of a total of 14 presentations. The conference was pre-approved by The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) and The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) for a total of 15 Continuing Education Units (CEU).
This was an outstanding effort by CHLA's team members from the Language and Culture Services Department, and countless support staff who collectively made this event such a great success. Valuable education, support, and networking opportunities were provided to all healthcare interpreters in the field.
Amani Zaki is the IMIA California Chapter Chair
Amani Zaki, BA. CHI™, was born and raised in Egypt, currently living in Los Angeles, California. She attended the Alexandria University in Egypt where she earned her Bachelor's degree in English Literature in 2008. She worked as a Senior Interpreter for four and half years, before starting a full time position as a Healthcare Language and Cultural Specialist at Children's Hospital Los Angeles in 2014. She earned her credentials through CCHI as a Certified Healthcare Interpreter; she is also an IMIA member since 2014.| 10/01/2020 | Seeking IMIA State Chapter Vice Chair for California |
| 10/01/2020 | Seeking IMIA City Chapter Chair for San Francisco |
