(At least) 5 Tips for Interpreting Physical & Occupational Therapy

Physical therapy or even occupational therapy can make up a large portion of the appointments medical interpreters interpret for. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense considering patients often have to be seen multiple times per week! Of course, as with any medical specialty, PT and OT come with their own sets of demands and challenges.
These are my tips for interpreting to the best of your ability for PT/OT appointments, whether they be in-person or remote. I discuss best practices, terminology, and notetaking, as well as the difficulties of remote interpretation for this specialty.
Apologies in advance for the audio quality of this video! My fancy microphone is having connection issues and I did my best to edit the audio that my camera mic captured.
Like this video? Want to see more like it? Videos like these take me multiple hours to produce and I'd really appreciate your support. Consider making a contribution on my Ko-Fi here: ko-fi.com/kghinterpretation

[@juliaropermusic5644]

That just encouraged me when you said you are the type of person who can tend to lose focus, except when you're interpreting. I feel the same way! Sometimes, I feel like I should be super good at focusing all the time since I interpret, but I find it's part of the gift/curse of having an interpreter mind: high focus/high lack of focus :)

[@KellyGrzechHenriquez]

We can't be our best selves all the time! I'm glad what I said gave you some encouragement :)

[@Felix-qz9cy]

Awesome..Thank you so much

[@KellyGrzechHenriquez]

I told you I'd post something soon (ish) 🤣

[@noraahmed6314]

Thank you ❤

[@KellyGrzechHenriquez]

You're very welcome!

[@allyback4924]

just in case, you can always use google translate.

[@KellyGrzechHenriquez]

There's a lot of research showing Google Translate is not fit for medical settings. I've seen it happen firsthand. I once witnessed a provider (illegally) using Google Translate during a physical therapy appointment with another patient. It gave the patient dangerously incorrect instructions. A big issue is that it does a terrible job with context. Something as simple as "move it over there" can tell a patient to move the wrong part of their body because "it" is gendered in many languages. www.theverge.com/2021/3/9/22319225/google-translate-medical-instructions-unreliable