Case Studies and Expertise

Translation expertise with physician handwriting

Deciphering physician handwriting is rarely an easy task in any language. My background as a Registered Nurse with a BSN and my hospital patient experience provided my technical medical knowledge. I later became a Certified Coding Specialist (CCS) for assigning diagnosis and procedure codes to medical records. I spent five years as a coder reading medical records (largely handwritten at the time) from cover to cover for 40 hours a week in three internationally known medical centers.

Coding exposed me very quickly to a wide range of patient types and procedures and at a very detailed level. It has also been useful in other areas such as translating handwritten laboratory notebooks. My years as a French translator have only increased the depth of my expertise in deciphering handwritten documents.

“Been there, done that”

I have real-life, professional (non-translation) experience related to most of my translations from an operative report to human resource management to standard operating procedures. My clients sense the difference in my translations, which stems from the fact that I have personally worked in an operating room, managed people in a large corporation, and written procedures in a business environment.

Happy clients

A number of years ago, a new agency client asked me to translate large volumes of handwritten physician progress notes. Their medically related end-client was quite concerned about translation quality as the result of previous bad experiences elsewhere. They wanted several pages up front as a sample, and they gave me the go-ahead. After I submitted the 90 or so pages, the agency owner called to tell me that their end-client was “drooling” over the translation.

Management

After being promoted to Assistant Hospital Director at one of the largest hospitals in the country, I was responsible for managing large budgets, multiple departments, large groups of people, and several outpatient facilities. Both the financial and human resources staffs were impressed by my skills in their areas.

Some of my departments were physical therapy, occupational therapy, a head injury program, the administrative and ancillary areas of inpatient rehabilitation, EEG and evoked potentials, and an ophthalmology institute. My hospital-wide responsibilities included accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals and safety programs including involvement with OSHA, the EPA, construction safety, environmental safety, and radiation safety.

In the lab

Chemistry laboratory notebooks traditionally have been handwritten. Some are very orderly and others less so. More than one client has told me they were amazed at how I can take handwritten pages with writing going every which way, translate it, and transfer it to a typed, decipherable page in Word that “matches” the original.

Keeping up to date

I earn AMA continuing education credits alongside physicians through the University of Michigan Medical School Office of Continuing Medical Education. I supplement with the continuing education programs and conferences of the American Translators Association.

Recently attended medical conferences: