An English-Spanish medical dictionary is a good investment for medical practitioners in Spanish-speaking communities.
Health care practitioners frequently find themselves struggling for words when dealing with patients who only speak Spanish. Trying to convey a diagnosis can be problematic through the translation. While the safest solution to this problem is turning to a qualified English-Spanish medical translator, the reality is that not all physicians or clinics have access to one. If your staff doesn't include bilinguals and you can't afford to hire an outside translator, you must be able to locate accurate Spanish translations of English medical terms.
Instructions
1. Invest in a hard copy English-Spanish medical dictionary. One dictionary that is frequently recommended by English/Spanish translators is Stedman's "Medical Dictionary English to Spanish and Spanish to English." According to Edward Potter, a Spanish to English translator, "it is fairly comprehensive, although it won't always have the term you are looking for." An alternative for medical practitioners who like to carry a dictionary with them is the "English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary" by Glenn T. Rogers. "It is designed for doctors to carry around in their coat pocket, but what it has in it is right on the money," said Reed D. James, another Spanish-to-English translator.
Another helpful resource is the "Diccionario Critico de Dudas de Medicina Ingles - Critical Dictionary of Ambivalent Medical Expressions English-Spanish" by Fernando Gonzales Navarro, which focuses on terms that are frequently mistranslated.
2. Visit an English-Spanish medical dictionary online if you can't find the term in a hard copy dictionary or don't have access to one. Typing the words "English Spanish medical dictionary" into your search engine of choice will produce helpful links. One resource for general inquiries is MedicalSpanish.com, which offers a free access Spanish medical dictionary featuring a selection of medically relevant Spanish dialogs.
For less common terminology, go to ProZ.com, a web forum used primarily by professional translators. Under the "Terminology" tab, select "Term search" and set the source and target language, then select "medical" under "Advanced options." The site also features a list of Spanish glossaries on various medical subjects such as general medicine, dentistry, cardiology and pharmaceuticals. One such glossary, SpanMed, compiled by translator Reed D. James, offers a 30,000-word Spanish-English medical dictionary that allows you to search by the English term or phrase.
Another site that offers a Spanish/English medical glossary is the "Multilingual Glossary of technical and popular medical terms in nine European Languages." After selecting Spanish as their target language, visitors can browse through the list of technical and popular medical terms, sorted alphabetically by both English and Spanish words.
3. Verify results from an online search with another dictionary or glossary, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the resource and its accuracy. As with any online content, you cannot assume that what you read in one place is correct. You may have to try various dictionaries or glossaries to find two different sources that list your search term. This step is important, as you certainly don't want to give a wrong diagnosis due to words being lost in translation.
Tags: English Spanish, English-Spanish medical, medical dictionary, English-Spanish medical dictionary, medical terms