What makes a medical translator?

Abstract

Advancements in healthcare and the rise of patient-centredness have increased workloads for professional medical translators. In parallel, new and emerging technologies are impacting translators’ output and workflows, though investigations into the medical translation domain remain scarce. This article presents the results of an international survey on 165 professional medical translators to identify trends concerning their socio-demographic and professional profiles, the textual- and process-related challenges of translating medical texts aimed at patients as laypersons, and their use of technology, specifically Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools and Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR). Results show that the medical translators surveyed have decades-long experience in translation and come primarily from a linguistic background. They find specialised terminology and delivery deadlines as most challenging when translating patient-facing medical texts. Finally, most medical translators in our survey use CAT tools when translating or post-editing, although a small minority also integrate ASR tools into their workflows.