Interpreters to Convene in London, UK for First IMIA UK Symposium for Medical Interpreters

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London, UK, July 29, 2010 — Medical interpreters will gather at the Wellington Hospital South campus of Wellington, on Thursday, August 5, 2010 for the first annual IMIA UK Symposium for Medical Interpreters. The theme of the symposium is Medical Interpreter Standards of Practice.

“There is currently no UK trade association specifically for medical interpreters, as the UK has a community interpreter tradition. The IMIA UK Chapter is attempting to fill this gap”, said Izabel Arocha, President of the International Medical Interpreters Association, IMIA. “Even though many interpreters work in several settings, those that only specialize in medical interpreting want to specialize further and network with others that also work exclusively in varied medical settings.”

Linda Joyce, an international language access consultant and interpreter in the US and IMIA Board Director, is the keynote speaker for the event. “It will be exciting to meet colleagues in the UK who are working hard to serve patients who do not speak the local language and share experiences with them,” she said. Symposium participants will be able to take an active role in this effort by joining various projects that are in progress, whose work will be discussed at the symposium. Participants will learn of the Medical Interpreting Standards of Practice, and other issues as interpreter professionals.

“We are very thankful to Wellington Hospital for hosting this event. They are providing us with the opportunity to have a face to face discussion about our work as healthcare interpreters,” said Siham Awardalla, the IMIA UK representative and organizer of the event. The IMIA UK Symposium will occur from 3-5pm, and is hosted by Wellington Hospital and sponsored by the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA). The event is free of charge and is occurring in the South Tower. For more information please email Siham Awardalla at IMIAUK@gmail.com

About the IMIA

The IMIA is an umbrella association that promotes all standards and best practices in the field of medical interpreting. As an international trade association of medical interpreters, it represents over 2,000 practicing medical interpreters as the ultimate experts in medical interpreting. It is also the only national trade association of medical interpreters in the US, and is an official active member of FIT, the Federation of Interpreters and Translators, an international organization comprised of trade associations of interpreters and translators worldwide. It is a partner member of AILIA, the Languages Industry Association, headquartered in Canada. IMIA developed the first code of ethics, standards, annual conference, and certification for medical interpreters and continues to be a pioneer in the field with its recent work to develop the first Interpreter Educators Code of Ethics and National Education Registry. The organization’s most current work involves developing an accreditation for medical interpreter training program. (www.imiaweb.org)