MEDICAL TRANSLATION

Medicine is a field of human activity aimed at investigation of normal and pathologic processes in human body, different diseases and pathological conditions and at maintenance and promotion of people's health.

The word medicine is derived from Latin phrase ars medicina (latin  medical art) and has the same root as the verb medeor (latin I heal).

There are several fields in medicine:

1.      Biomedicine

2.      Practical or clinical medicine  

3.      Conventional and alternative medicine

4.      Evidentiary medicine

Since ancient times medicine is divided in two branches: some physicians healed and heal the diseases of internal parts of the body, where along with hygienic means they  assign medicine given orally; other deal with diseases of external parts of the body, with injuries of bones, muscles and organs, that require surgical intervention. This division of medicine into internal one, or therapy, and external one, or surgery, was established well in the prehistoric times; later every branch divided into separate fields.

The knowledge of illnesses is unreal without knowledge of the wide range of sciences.  Doctors or healers, as they called themselves back in the past, moved from one country to another to get needed medical knowledge or to adopt experience of these counties in curing diseases.  

Nowadays such difficulties aren't necessary. It is enough to read scientific literature or to communicate with colleagues from other countries through
Internet to enlarge your knowledge. Anyway to do this you have to have a working knowledge of foreign languages or to address a translator in a translation bureau.

There are several fields of medical translation:

-         medical documentation (epicrises, case records, case histories, results of laboratory and  instrumental examinations, surgical records, conclusions by experts);

-         documentation for clinical studies of medical preparations (an agreement about conduction of clinical study, protocol of study, investigator's brochure, form of informed consent, individual registration card);

-         pharmaceutical documentation (dossiers of medical preparations, product inserts, information for doctors and patients, documentation for quality control);

-         documentation for medical equipment and tools (instruction manuals, guides, descriptions, promotional materials, catalogues, presentations);

-         web-sites dedicated to medicine,  pharmaceutics, clinical studies, medical equipment and tools;

-         popular scientific literature in medicine;

-         medical scientific literature (scientific articles, conference proceedings, reviews, author's abstracts, dissertations,  monographs, reference books, textbooks, tutorials for doctors and students of medical higher education institutions).

Our translators have a vast experience of translation of medical texts in all these fields.

Translation of medical texts requires enormous responsibility because a person's life often depends on correctness of translation of documents, medical certificates and diagnoses.  

Medical translation differs from other kinds of translation by obligatory knowledge of medical terminology in Latin by a translator. Otherwise a translator should be capable of finding correct terminology in dictionaries and in Internet. That's why our translators in the process of work with text frequently resort to consultation with medical experts, whether they are surgeons, pharmacologists, therapists etc.

The process of medical translation or medical translation in narrow meaning of this word is the activity of a translator for creation of a medical text (translation proper).

The process of medical translation has two stages at least: this is the identification by the translation bureau manager of content of a medical text and the choice of translation variant.

There are different translation variants: an urgent translation, a semi-urgent and normal translation.

An urgent translation is performed within a working day or for the next working day, if the amount of text for translation is large. Therefore a large text is divided between two or more translators.

A semi-urgent translation appears when a Customer had to shorten the term of a translator's work. Under such conditions a part of the text may be given to another translator to speed up the process.

A normal translation is performed by a single translator, who translates the whole text in the term set by the manager of the translation bureau.

In the process of estimation the manager often has to rely upon his professional intuition and experience in estimation of difficulty and quality of a text under translation because the original is often given in form of an image or has a bad quality. Nevertheless it doesn't mean that this variant of estimation is completely random or optional. 

You may deliver us materials for translation by any means convenient for you - either by e-mail, by fax or by visiting our office in person. While working with medical documents of any format and volume we always keep the term set by a Customer. A compete medical translation may be certified by a notary or by the seal of the translation bureau.

A medical translation after being completed by a translation is subject to obligatory editing. What is editing of translation you way learn from the next chapter.