Medical translation is an important tool in healthcare as the world’s population—and that population’s medical care—becomes increasingly internationalized. Language can sometimes be a barrier keeping people from accessing healthcare products and services, and medical translation can remove that barrier. Understanding medical translation will help you be an informed consumer of medical translation services.
First, a little about us before we explore this topic in detail. We are Espresso Translations, an agency that provides quality medical translations and interpretation services of all kinds, with a focus on the medical and pharmaceutical industries. We offer our medical translation services from and to any languages, and we translate medical texts in all languages, including medical documents, patient records, pharmaceutical documentation, medical and life science research papers, scientific publications, clinical trial protocols, certified medical translations and much more. For information about our medical translations, just fill out the form on our website for a free quote.
Our highly trained team of linguists consists of experienced professionals with great expertise in many languages as well as competences in medicine, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, which makes them qualified to produce accurate medical translations of the highest caliber.
What is medical translation?
Medical translation is a specialty in the field of translation that concentrates on documents and text ranging from scientific articles, medical theses, pharmaceutical research documentation to popular science books and just about anything else related to medicine. Medical translation is an essential way to break through language barriers in global healthcare. Just imagine how difficult it would be to share medical records and research information in different countries without medical translation. Medical translation helps healthcare professionals and patients to achieve advancements in the fight against diseases and the discovery of new healthcare treatments.
At Espresso Translations, our extremely proficient native speakers with medical expertise work in the following areas and more.
- Clinical medicine (medical records, certificates, forms, etc.)
- Academic research (theses, scientific research, articles, etc.)
- Pharmaceutical progress and manufacturing (research, package inserts, clinical studies, etc.)
- Biomedicine (manuals, labeling, procedures, etc.)
In all of the areas listed above, it is critical to have translations performed by professional translators who specialize in the required medical topics. The accuracy and precision of all medical translations is vital for protecting health and patient safety and compliance with evolving regulations.
Why is medical translation important?
Medical translation is a significant step in the international communication of advancements in medical science, one that helps patients everywhere gain access to the care they need as well as enabling healthcare professionals to work together and exchange medical information. In addition, medical translation makes medical textbooks and other documentation available globally to help healthcare professionals learn better ways to provide the most cutting-edge treatments to their patients
What types of documents are translated in medical translation?
Medical document translations can involve almost anything you can think of in the field of medicine, but it might help to group them into a number of types. Each of these types is its own extensive specialty with its own challenges for the translator. A medical translator therefore needs proficiency in certain segments of medicine, all of which involve their own complex medical terminology.
For example, documents in the field of pharmaceuticals can be vastly different in nature from medical records, and both types of documents call for translators with relevant knowledge. Another example is information geared to patients and the general public, which requires not only medical expertise but a gift for rendering the information in language that can be precisely understood by someone without any special training in order to strengthen patient safety and compliance. In essence, medical translators need background training and continuing education to maintain their deep understanding of medical trends just like any other professional in the healthcare industry.
If you handle any of the following kinds of documents, you may eventually find yourself in need of a skilled, perhaps even a certified medical translator:
- Pharmaceutical translations (leaflets and brochures, regulatory documents, drug development papers, pharmaceutical research, clinical study/trial documentations).
- Manuals and instructions for use (IFUs) regarding medical devices, biomedical equipment and other health technology.
- Text used in hospitals and clinics (medical reports, radiology and diagnostic analyses, patient medical records, patient information on healthcare products and services, treatment protocols, internal rules and procedures, prescriptions).
- Telemedicine and digital health information (health apps, patient home medicine portals).
- University-level medical content (research, theses, studies, articles, conference proceedings, presentations, courses, and seminars).
Regardless of the type of documents you need to have translated, the professional medical translation team at Espresso Translations (an agency with certifications according to current regulations) can meet all your translation needs. Our medical translations are available in many languages, and we offer a complete range of linguistic services.
What challenges are faced in medical translation?
Medical translators face three primary challenges in their work: terminology, regulations, and the associated legalities. Read on for details on each of these three potential difficulties in the medical translation process.
3.1. Specialist Terminology
- An expert medical translator needs to possess knowledge of special medical terminology and be proficient in using official medical glossaries (MedDRA, ICD-10).
- Those training for a career in medical translation need to be aware of how general-interest translation has room for some freedom and interpretation, whereas medical translation needs rigorous adherence to the precise shades of meaning in the original document.
3.2. Regulatory Compliance
Medical translators must be capable of complying with the applicable standards and regulations. The foremost standards and regulations encountered in medical translations are:
- ISO 17100 – Quality standards for translation
- ISO 13485 – Quality management for medical devices
- EMA & FDA guidelines – Regulations for the pharmaceutical industry
If you need medical translations that are fully compliant with any of the above, make sure you hire a translator or translation agency with current certifications that you can view.
Espresso Translations has years of experience in not only providing medical translations of the finest quality but also staying abreast of developments in the field and constantly exercising our scrupulous quality control procedures.
3.3. Consequences of Incorrect Translation
Unlike some other types of translations, what might seem like a minor error in a medical translation can have real impacts—possibly fatal ones— on human health as well as significant legal consequences for the translator. The table below lists common translation errors that are especially risky for medical translators.
| Clinical | Incorrect operations and treatments | Incorrect diagnoses | Misinterpretation of symptoms |
| Pharmaceutical | Administration errors | Errors in identifying active ingredients | Failure to administer medication |
| Scientific | Errors in abbreviations | Errors in neologisms | “False friends” |
| Biomedical | Errors in instructions | Errors in labeling | Errors in localization |
Quality-conscious translation agencies like Espresso Translations aim for the complete absence of all errors in medical translations. The factors that help an agency or individual translator to achieve this “zero tolerance” for errors include significant experience, constant practice, strict quality control procedures, consultations and proofreading between colleagues. Computer technology, when used wisely, can also be an assistance to medical translators striving for zero errors in their work.
What is The Process of Medical Translation?
The process for a top-quality medical translator overlooks nothing, takes no chances, and uses appropriate best practices. Sufficient time and effort must be spent on every step of the process to ensure an optimal medical translation.
4.1. Phases of Medical Translation
A rigorous medical translation will most likely include the following steps.
- A careful analysis of the original document or text
- Translation into the target language
- A thorough review or QA of the translation
- Compliance with the applicable regulatory standards (ISO, FDA, EMA)
- Formatting the document as required
- A final proofreading
- Delivery of the translation that protects confidentiality and privacy
With adequate care and time, backed up by professional experience, this process will result in a precise and flawless medical translation. The teamwork among professionals as practiced at a leading translation agency such as Espresso Translations, where quality control is distributed among a number of expert translators, is crucial in rooting out errors and achieving the utmost in quality in each medical translation.
4.2. Best Practices for High Quality Translations
A careful medical translator can choose from a number of tools to help achieve a perfect translation. These tools must be used only as truly appropriate to each individual medical document to be translated. Here at Espresso Translations, our comprehensive experience in medical document translation services has led us to a carefully considered use of the following tools and practices, the most important of them being:
- Using CAT tools (Trados, MemoQ) to ensure consistency in medical and other terminology
- Implementing Translation Memories (TMs) to minimize errors
- Consulting and working with other linguists, translation professionals, doctors and medical experts
Computerized translation software can be a valuable tool to the medical translator, but only if it is used wisely. Nobody should ever trust an entire document to any kind of automatic translation program, as this would be extremely risky.
Who Needs Professional Medical Translation Services?
Several industries related to healthcare and medicine increasingly need a dependable medical translator or translation agency to properly do business internationally. Translators with proper training in medicine could obtain jobs or contracts with the following types of employers:
- Pharmaceutical companies focus on research, experimentation and, ultimately, the manufacture and marketing of medications. The pharmaceutical business depends a great deal on accurately reporting and sharing test results, patient outcomes and other information, often across international borders.
- Hospitals and clinics involve close interactions between healthcare workers and patients. In many places, especially in major cities, medical staff and patients may speak different languages and come from different cultural backgrounds. Medical translators and interpreters are essential for clear communication with cultural accuracy to take place.
- Medical device manufacturers must often get their technical documentation and user manuals translated so as not to limit their potential market. Clarity and accuracy in medical translation are just as important here as in any other medical field.
- Regulatory agencies and CROs are naturally subject to many regulations and international standards, as in fact they should be. The extensive documentation produced and used at these organizations will necessitate competent translation into a variety of languages.
How can I find a reliable medical translator?
The translation options available over the internet can be a bit overwhelming to choose from, but some guidelines will help you avoid the common pitfalls that could trap the unwary. The biggest mistake you might make in finding a competent medical translator is entrusting your project to a translator without the requisite training, experience, and attention to quality. A sensible amount of prudence and checking an unfamiliar translator in the ways listed below should steer you away from unqualified translators.
- Certifications: Look for a translator or translation agency with ISO 17100, ISO 13485, and AATA Medical Certification credentials.
- Translators and agency professionals should be native speakers of the language they translate into. They should also have adequate education and expertise in medicine, such as a master’s degree in medical translation, certificates of completion of relevant courses, and the like.
- Select translators and agencies with documented and implemented quality control processes like back translation and tools like glossaries of medical terminology.
- Be sure to ask for references from clients in the health care industry.
Beware of these two major mistakes in choosing a medical translator:
- Reliance on uncertified and unexperienced translators with little understanding of the medical issues at stake can cost you more than it saves you.
- Using machine translation without a human doing a careful review of the result is one of the worst (and most common) errors you could make.
Beyond these two significant risks, you may find yourself wondering whether to hire a freelance translator as opposed to a translation agency. The table below should help you to evaluate the advantages and tradeoffs of those alternatives.
| Translation Agency | Multilingual team | Distributed quality control | Staff assigned to communications, deliveries, etc. | Ability to reduce the impact of unforeseen events | Express service through the application of more resources |
| Freelance Translator | Limited number of known languages | Quality control performed independently | Handles all tasks independently | Subject to unforeseen events of autonomous work | Standard delivery times |
It should be clear from the table above that using a translation agency can provide significant advantages for your medical translation. You might assume that a freelance translator will cost less, but this is not necessarily the case. Regardless, the potential cost savings may be offset by a freelancer’s possibly slower delivery of the finished medical translation, fewer resources for quality control, and the danger of facing delays due to illness or equipment failures.
To achieve the best results for your medical translation project, you can’t go wrong with Espresso Translations. Our extensive experience and flexibility of resources make us a trustworthy option when you need the utmost in accuracy and reliability.
Also read: How to become a medical translator?
What is the cost of medical translation?
Every medical document is different, and the cost for translating each document may be different as well. Several aspects of a medical document can influence the ultimate cost of its translation. The most likely elements to raise the bottom line include:
- The source and target languages: a translation into English or from English may be less expensive than some other language combination, and rare languages can add to the cost.
- Document length: as a rule, a short document will cost less to translate than a long document.
- Technical terminology: Highly complex terminology involving unusual medical specialties can have a significant effect on the price.
- Unusual file types: A PDF, a Word document, or other common file types generally will not incur an extra conversion fee.
- Quick turnaround times: A rush translation may need to have several translators assigned to it and will cost you more than a translation that is not especially urgent.
The price of different translation projects can vary considerably, but you should know that medical translations can be among the costliest. There are good reasons for this, the primary ones being:
- Medical translations demand considerable knowledge and experience of the translator.
- Any mistakes by a medical translator can influence treatment and outcomes and are thus a major responsibility.
- Medical translations necessitate close attention to detail (see the point above) and may take significant time.
Considering all the potential variables, you may have uncertainties about the cost of a given medical translation project until you get an exact quote. Fortunately, if you are thinking of hiring Espresso Translations, the process is quite easy, and we offer translation services of all kinds. Just visit our quote request page and upload the medical document(s) you need to have translated, ask any questions you have, then sit back and relax. Your free, no-obligation price quote will come in within a few hours.
For all your medical translation needs, you can trust Espresso Translations. To get more information, visit our website. While you are looking around, feel free to ask for a free quote on our high quality medical and pharmaceutical translation services.
