Medical Interpreting Service in the United States, Japan and Thailand: Comparisons from the Perspective of Teamwork between Physicians and Medical Interpreters

Abstract

This study compares the medical interpreting services of the United States of America, Japan and Thailand, by focusing on the background structure that has contributed to systematize this service. In the United States the recognition of the importance of language in the healthcare sector has fostered efforts by educational institutions to train both physicians and interpreters on how to work effectively as a team. In Japan, in spite of the efforts on educating interpreters, there is not yet a liaison with the medical education side. In Thailand, the situation is even more unique. Interpreting service is limited to private hospitals, and although interpreters receive some on-the-job training, there are no institutions involved in training physicians for this service. Therefore, this study proposes a few conceptual recommendations for the medical education on how to build up the teamwork between physicians and interpreters.