Globalization has shrunk the world and has made it easier than ever before to trade opportunities. This applies to the medical world too.

As more people travel around the world, it makes sense for low-cost countries to understand the latest treatments and research to provide a better quality of treatment.

All this, however, requires technical translations. Let’s see why.

Medical tourism

Today, medical tourism is one of the hottest sectors and is seeing rapid growth. Essentially, medical tourism is a trip done for medical reasons. It is undertaken to reduce the cost of surgery or when a particular facility is not available in a country.

This requires translation services as the doctor should be in a position to understand the past medical history of the patient. For example, let’s say, Mr. John from Germany travels to Spain for a treatment. The doctors in Spain should know to translate his medical history in Germany to be able to offer the best treatment.

Staying on top of research

Much of the research is written in English today. But not everyone in the world reads and understands fluent English. Medical practitioners may feel more comfortable reading in their local language, and in a way, this is also necessary as they can understand the research better.

For this to happen, all documents written in other languages should be translated to the local language.

Communication

The increasing prevalence of international travel has underscored the importance of translation services, particularly in facilitating communication between medical practitioners and patients. Consider a scenario where an individual from South Korea, who is not proficient in English, travels to an English-speaking country. In such a situation, they are likely to turn to the internet to search for terms like “korean dentist near me” to locate a healthcare professional who can converse with them in their native language.

While this is just one example, it’s a situation that can arise for anyone visiting a foreign country or relocating and requiring the services of a healthcare provider. The availability of professionals who can communicate in the local language can significantly ease the process of describing health concerns and obtaining the necessary medical assistance. This linguistic support ensures that patients can effectively convey their symptoms, medical history, and needs, ultimately enhancing the quality of healthcare services, even in foreign or diverse language-speaking environments.

In all, the growing popularity of medical tourism has made medical translation essential. However, medical translation is a complex process as it requires an in-depth understanding of the content and context before a translation can be done. Also, there is no margin for error, as the relevance of the content could decide the life or death of a patient.

Wrong or improper translations can increase complications and risks in treatment and surgeries, which could cost both, the medical professional as well as the patient. In a few cases, a wrong understanding of a surgical procedure can lead to organ damage, or other issues that can even escalate to the patient filing a medical negligence case against the doctor and healthcare establishment. For instance, if an error occurred during childbirth which caused harm to the child or the mother, then it would be best to reach out to an expert in Birth injury law to provide valuable insights, and help to navigate these sensitive cases.

To elaborate, take an example of a Hysterectomy, where major complications that could arise post-surgery due to medical negligence are – urinary tract infection, damage to blood vessels, injury to other organs, and more. In that situation, the patient or their family could take legal action by exploring a good solicitor for hysterectomy claim cases who can get them compensation and other benefits. The same could be the case with cosmetic, orthopedic, or any other surgery that went wrong due to negligence of a doctor, hospital, or wrongly translated medical documents.

The whole process of medical document translation could affect people in a positive or negative way, depending on the preciseness of the translation.

Sometimes, even courts call upon these documents as medical evidence, so that’s another reason to have well-translated documents.

It is best you get a certified copy of the translation from a qualified company with years of experience in translation, to avoid any legal implications that can come up with the wrong diagnosis and treatment.