Health Care Interpreter Certificate Program*
Level I

A certificate-granting program will be offered for bilingual-bicultural individuals through the University of Memphis.

This is one of only 10 official training sites affiliated with Hablamos Juntos in the country.

Upcoming Classes

Dates:   October 22, 23, 29, 30 and November 5
Times:  Saturdays, 12pm-5pm and Sundays 9am-5pm   
Place:   University of Memphis campus
Instructor:  Espi Ralston, MA, MAT, MA
Tuition:  $850 (may be payable by your employer)

Please fill out the registration form and the appropriate payment form below to register for the class.
For more information, please call Espi Ralston: (901) 218-4691

REGISTRATION FORM
INDIVIDUAL PAYMENT FORM
EMPLOYER PAYMENT FORM

Information about the Health Care Interpreter Certificate Program

The Healthcare Interpreter Training Course is a specialized training program, offered one evening a week (Tuesdays) for 10 weeks at the University of Memphis. The next course is scheduled to start September 15 and end November 17, 2009. The course is administered by the Master of Public Health Program.

The Healthcare Interpreter program is an intensive and comprehensive course, with modules covering the most important topics in medical interpreting, such as the role of the interpreter, ethical issues, cultural competence, modes of interpreting and Standards of Practice of Medical Interpreters to cite a few.

A nationally-recognized training, it was developed by Kaiser Permanente in collaboration with Hablamos Juntos, a national program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The training consists of 30 hours of class instruction at the University of Memphis, and a 10 hour practicum at St. Jude Children´s Research Hospital.

It is based on active and cooperative learning, and enhanced by visual materials and other instructional and learning tools. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of the students have graduated from the training. Each student receives a certificate* of attendance and completion, corresponding to 40 hours of training at Level I.

Some of the former students are currently working as medical interpreters at St. Jude, Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center, the Med, Christ Community, American Way Clinic, Hollywood Clinic, The Health Department, and Jackson Madison County General Hospital. Others are working as free-lance medical interpreters in different clinics.

A significant percentage of former students are members of national, local, and state healthcare interpreter associations, and attend professional meetings regularly.

About the course instructor

Espi Ralston holds master degrees in curriculum and instruction, romance languages, and modern philology. She has 30 years of experience in teaching. She has been trained in medical interpreting to teach students to become qualified interpreters.

Ms. Ralston describes the critical need for this program. “Every medical encounter is a linguistic and cross-cultural encounter. In medical settings and, on a daily basis, healthcare interpreters act as conduits, cultural brokers, clarifiers and advocates in order to help limited English proficient patients receive access to quality health care. In a triadic relationship, a successful outcome depends largely on the efficiency of the interpreter. Thus, the need for hospitals and medical institutions to hire interpreters who understand and know the intricacies of the profession.”

For more information about the course, please contact Espi Ralston, course instructor and recruiter at (901) 218-4691 (cell) or by emailing her at: esmarttrans@aol.com. Please indicate “Medical Interpreter Training” in the subject line of your email.

*NOTE:The word certificate is different from certification. Certification is a process by which a government or professional organization attests to or certifies that an individual is qualified to provide a particular service. Certificate is a document such as a certificate of attendance and/or completion that attests to participation in a course of study and attainment of learning objectives. Currently, there is no national certification in medical interpreting nor is such certification offered by the state of Tennessee.