Profile

ABOUT ME

I’m a professional translator and interpreter specializing in the healthcare and medical industries. My mission is to help English-speaking healthcare professionals and Spanish-speaking patients bridge cultural and linguistic barriers in the United States of America.

While I was born and raised in Spain, I acquired English as a second language early in life. In addition to regular school, where the main language of instruction was Spanish, I attended a few private schools where teachers were native English speakers – and no other languages were allowed in class. I also spent one summer living with a family and attending school in Ireland.

As a kid, I was fascinated by the Once Upon a Time... Life (Érase una vez... la vida in Spanish) animated series about the human body for children. Although I considered becoming a physician for some time, it was a lifelong love for communication and foreign languages that prevailed.
 

EXPERIENCE

My career started in 2004 when a bank hired me to provide language services to individuals and companies. For the next 10+ years, I worked in customer service for banks and IT companies in Barcelona. That allowed me to take on financial and marketing translation projects, both in-house and independently.

In 2010, I completed a Translation & Interpreting Licentiate at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The following were the main subjects that I took:

• General Translation
• Mother Tongue Languages – Catalan and Spanish
• Foreign Languages – English, French, German, and Russian
• Documentation, Technology, and IT applied to Translation and Interpreting
• Specialized Translation – Audiovisual, Legal, Literary, and Scientific
• Consecutive Interpreting
• Simultaneous Interpreting

A licentiate is a type of degree that was phased out in Spain after implementing the Bologna declaration on the European Higher Education Area. According to Spain’s Royal Decree 967/2014 of November 21, a licentiate degree is equivalent to a master’s degree (level 7 of the European Qualifications Network).

These are the language pairs that I’m most comfortable working with:

• English → Spanish
• English → Catalan
• Catalan ↔ Spanish

In 2016, I relocated from Spain to the US. My translation skills benefited by learning first-hand from the different American cultures and markets. That allowed me to pass the American Translators Association (ATA) certification exam a year later. To retain my ATA Certified English-Spanish credential, I must complete 20 continuing education credits every three years.

SPECIALIZATION

Until I became a certified translator, I had considered myself a generalist who hoped to make it in the audiovisual field. Life, however, reminded me I could put to use all the medical knowledge that I had continued learning on my own over the years. That’s when I chose medical translation as my specialization and began working with clinics and hospitals.

My translation projects generally involve:

• Diagnostic Reports
• Educational & Marketing Materials
• Legal & Financial Agreements
• Medical Opinions
• Patient Forms, Instructions, Questionnaires & Records

Regarding translation from Spanish into English, I can translate certain medical records and reports, such as imaging studies and laboratory tests. Yet, since Spanish is my mother tongue, I’m often more comfortable translating documents from English into Spanish.

Even though I’m not certified as a healthcare interpreter yet, I’m qualified to provide in-person medical interpreting services at doctor’s appointments. In this case, I feel at ease translating orally both from English into Spanish and from Spanish into English.

As part of my commitment to continuing education, I’m currently taking on the following programs:

• AulaSIC – Medical Translation Master
• Medical Interpreting Training School – Program for Spanish Interpreters (as a prerequisite to becoming certified)

If you want to discuss your needs, please click here to start a conversation. I look forward to hearing from you!

EDUCATION

Translation & Interpreting

• Licentiate/Master’s degree in Translation & Interpreting – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2010)

Medicine & Science

• Biomedical Translation Master – AulaSIC (ongoing)
• Program for Spanish Interpreters – Medical Interpreting Training School (ongoing)

Courses

– AulaSIC

• Mandatory Terminology in the Pharmaceutical Industry (2021)
• Style Guidelines for Drafting & Translating Technical/Scientific Texts (2021)

– Cálamo y Cran

• Copyediting & Translating PDF Files (2012)

– Coursera

• Clinical Terminology for International & US Students – University of Pittsburgh (2020)
• Fundamental Neuroscience for Neuroimaging – The Johns Hopkins University (2020)

– edX

• Introduction to Biomedical Imaging – The University of Queensland (2021)

– LinkedIn Learning

• Advanced Grammar (2020)
• Communication Tips (2020)
• Editing & Proofreading Made Simple (2020)
• Writing in Plain English (2020)

– Resolute Interpreting

• HIPAA Compliance (2020)
• Interpreter Ethics & Best Practices for Interpreters (2020)

– Salt Lake Community College

• Introduction to Statistics (2020)

– Translastars

• Inclusive Language (2020)

– Udemy

• EN>ES Financial Translation (2018)
• General Transcription (2019)

Events

• ATA Annual Conference – Attendee (2020)
• CHICATA Translators Institute – Attendee (2018 & 2019)
• DePaul University Community Service & Network Engagement – Speaker (2019)
• MATI Annual Conference – Attendee (2018)
• Semana del Lenguaje Claro de EnClaro – Attendee (2020)

Seminars

– ACES: The Society for Editing

• The Basics of Readability (2020)
• Editing Translations (2020)

– American Society of Radiologic Technologists

• Contrast Media in Medical Imaging (2020)
• Occupational Hazards in Medical Imaging (2020)
• Radiographic Densities: Why Adipose Tissue Matters (2020)

– American Translators Association

• The Creative World of Transcreation & Copywriting (2020)
• Drugs, Medication & Pharmacology (2021)
• Exploring Gender-Neutrality in Grammatically Gendered Languages (2021)
• Medical Terminology: Problem Solving through Parallel Texts (2020)
• Translating Diagnostic Imaging (2020)

– Asociación Uruguaya de Correctores de Estilo

• Editing Bibliographies & Texts with Bibliographical References (2020)

– Associació Professional de Traductors i Intèrprets de Catalunya

• Protocol in Official Events (2012)
• Translating InDesign Files (2021)

– Atlanta Association of Interpreters & Translators

• Plain Language & Translation (2021)

– Blue Urpi

• Body-Related Idioms (2021)
• The Cardiovascular System (2021)
• Coronavirus Fundamentals for Translators & Interpreters (2020)
• Drugs & Medicines (2021)
• Imaging for Translators & Interpreters (2020)

– Midwest Association of Translators & Interpreters

• American English Pronunciation/Listening (2018)
• Copyediting & Proofreading as Part of the Translation Process (2018)
• Formatting in MS Word (2017)
• Healthcare Interpreting (2018)
• PDFs, OCR & Formatting (2018)
• Translating Emojis (2018)

– Nevada Interpreters & Translators Association

• Drugs, Alcohol & Fentanyl: Interpreting for Chemical Dependency Patients (2021)

– ProZ

• Over-the-Phone Interpreting (2017)
• Asset Management & Investment Funds (2018)

– UTIA

• The Biology & Lexicon of a Stroke (2020)
• Navigating Oncology (2020)

 
MEMBERSHIPS

• American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT)
• American Translators Association (ATA)
• Asociación Internacional de Traductores y Redactores de Medicina y Ciencias Afines (Tremédica)
• Utah Translators & Interpreters Association (UTIA)