Re: Medical Translations Agency

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 14/05/2003 21:52:25 GMT Standard Time,

bostana_77@... writes:

> I am writing a business plan for a translation agency that would specialize

> in technical translation services for Pharmaceuticals industry. This agency

> would need to have enough translators to cover all subject areas used by

> Pharmaceuticals. Let's assume they are all Biochem PhD's. How many subject

> areas are there that I would need to cover? For example, I assume that a

> PhD with a background in a broad area such as hematology would be able to

> understand (and translate into his nativelanguage) almost any

> pharmacological study, package insert, label, or scientific paper or drug

> patent related to hematology. What are the other subject areas that

> Pharmaceutical companies work in (or, better yet, write in)?

Are you implying that all medical translators need to have a PhD - or have I

completely misunderstood you?

I am an experienced and successful (or at least, busy) medical and

pharmaceutical translator from 3 languages into 2, and the chief translator

between one pair of those for 4 large clinical trials. I don't have a PhD,

not even an MSc in a biological science (my formal background is in optical

engineering), but my clients seem happy enough ;-)

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 14/05/2003 21:52:25 GMT Standard Time,

bostana_77@... writes:

> I am writing a business plan for a translation agency that would specialize

> in technical translation services for Pharmaceuticals industry. This agency

> would need to have enough translators to cover all subject areas used by

> Pharmaceuticals. Let's assume they are all Biochem PhD's. How many subject

> areas are there that I would need to cover? For example, I assume that a

> PhD with a background in a broad area such as hematology would be able to

> understand (and translate into his nativelanguage) almost any

> pharmacological study, package insert, label, or scientific paper or drug

> patent related to hematology. What are the other subject areas that

> Pharmaceutical companies work in (or, better yet, write in)?

Are you implying that all medical translators need to have a PhD - or have I

completely misunderstood you?

I am an experienced and successful (or at least, busy) medical and

pharmaceutical translator from 3 languages into 2, and the chief translator

between one pair of those for 4 large clinical trials. I don't have a PhD,

not even an MSc in a biological science (my formal background is in optical

engineering), but my clients seem happy enough ;-)

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

This is probably opening up a can of worms - and similar subjects have

already been discussed on M_T, for those who care to check the archives -

but I must admit to having the same concerns about the original message as

those expressed by below. There are very likely Biochem PhDs who are

bilingual but not particularly competent translators (I'm taking this as a

" for instance " - Biochem PhDs on the list need not be offended), and

conversely there will be lots of people with translation skills but no

formal medical qualifications who have proved capable of extending those

translation skills to the medical/pharmaceutical domain.

In case anyone wants to get hot and bothered about the subject, I don't

intend to participate in any " yes you can/no you can't " arguments. Someone

flew off the handle when I asked a fairly innocuous question a year or two

ago, and the resulting correspondence, which must still be in the archives,

will probably have dealt with the subject in enough detail.

At 10:12 15/05/03, Lotsofwordz@... wrote...

>In a message dated 14/05/2003 21:52:25 GMT Standard Time,

>bostana_77@... writes:

>

>

> > I am writing a business plan for a translation agency that would

> specialize

> > in technical translation services for Pharmaceuticals industry. This

> agency

> > would need to have enough translators to cover all subject areas used by

> > Pharmaceuticals. Let's assume they are all Biochem PhD's. How many subject

> > areas are there that I would need to cover? For example, I assume that a

> > PhD with a background in a broad area such as hematology would be able to

> > understand (and translate into his nativelanguage) almost any

> > pharmacological study, package insert, label, or scientific paper or drug

> > patent related to hematology. What are the other subject areas that

> > Pharmaceutical companies work in (or, better yet, write in)?

>

>Are you implying that all medical translators need to have a PhD - or have I

>completely misunderstood you?

>

>I am an experienced and successful (or at least, busy) medical and

>pharmaceutical translator from 3 languages into 2, and the chief translator

>between one pair of those for 4 large clinical trials. I don't have a PhD,

>not even an MSc in a biological science (my formal background is in optical

>engineering), but my clients seem happy enough ;-)

>

> Kinory MITI

Purdy

Translation from W. European Languages / Coins bought & sold

Translate Ltd, PO Box 40-665, Upper Hutt 6415, New Zealand

E-mail: translate@...

http://www.translatelimited.com

eBay: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/translateltd

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 15/05/2003 10:57:58 GMT Standard Time, slarsson@...

writes:

> plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

> o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

> subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

> translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

,

I am unfamiliar with that last figure of speech: is it a West Coast / Swedish

thing? ;-)

Fully agree with Dee's comments.

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 15/05/2003 11:34:36 GMT Standard Time, slarsson@...

writes:

> isn't the main topic of the list... medical translation? and wouldn't the

> issue of qualifications for a medical translator come under that topic?

Exactly. And the delete key is still on the keyboard.

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

At 02:47 AM 5/15/2003 -0700, Dee Braig wrote:

>Hi Ana,

>

>As Helen says [let's not beat about the bush] most MDs will put their own

>work first unless they have fully converted to translation. For a very

>good reason: translating brings less money than doctoring. C'est la vie.

not in this household - but the doctor has to be at the office from 9 to 5,

more or less, so translating for him is relegated to weekends and days off,

for now. translation *does* pay better than medicine (family practice,

washington state) - and he's leaving his practice at the end of the year.

>.... and, going back to the point so clearly made by Kinory, to

>prepare a good translation it's much more important to be a good

>translator with a good knowledge of the subject matter and a good

>knowledge of research procedures [to find information] than to be a PhD in

>the subject, or an MD or whatever. It really is a question of temperament,

>and translation requires a completely different approach to written work,

>especially to the written word, than scientists usually have. Not to

>mention that speaking two languages, even perfectly fluently, doth not a

>translator make, because there is so much linguistic knowledge, training

>and savoir faire involved in the process in addition to simple grammatically

>correct usage.

plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

fwiw

susan

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 02:47 AM 5/15/2003 -0700, Dee Braig wrote:

>Hi Ana,

>

>As Helen says [let's not beat about the bush] most MDs will put their own

>work first unless they have fully converted to translation. For a very

>good reason: translating brings less money than doctoring. C'est la vie.

not in this household - but the doctor has to be at the office from 9 to 5,

more or less, so translating for him is relegated to weekends and days off,

for now. translation *does* pay better than medicine (family practice,

washington state) - and he's leaving his practice at the end of the year.

>.... and, going back to the point so clearly made by Kinory, to

>prepare a good translation it's much more important to be a good

>translator with a good knowledge of the subject matter and a good

>knowledge of research procedures [to find information] than to be a PhD in

>the subject, or an MD or whatever. It really is a question of temperament,

>and translation requires a completely different approach to written work,

>especially to the written word, than scientists usually have. Not to

>mention that speaking two languages, even perfectly fluently, doth not a

>translator make, because there is so much linguistic knowledge, training

>and savoir faire involved in the process in addition to simple grammatically

>correct usage.

plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

fwiw

susan

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 21:59 15/05/03, susan larsson wrote...

>plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

>o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

>subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

>translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

" Come to a wash " is a new one on me - what sort of conclusion was it, or

was it a non-conclusion?

Purdy

Translation from W. European Languages / Coins bought & sold

Translate Ltd, PO Box 40-665, Upper Hutt 6415, New Zealand

E-mail: translate@...

http://www.translatelimited.com

eBay: http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/translateltd

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues,

Regardless of your qualifications and degrees, you can see that off-topic

messages are usually much longer than in-topic ones, and very soon they gain

priority on the list.

What if we return to the main topic, once and forever?

Best regards,

___________________________

Sosnovsky, M.D.

Biomedical Translation & Editing

English > Russian < French

email: mail@...

http://www.biomedtrans.ru

[Guest guest]

Dear colleagues,

Regardless of your qualifications and degrees, you can see that off-topic

messages are usually much longer than in-topic ones, and very soon they gain

priority on the list.

What if we return to the main topic, once and forever?

Best regards,

___________________________

Sosnovsky, M.D.

Biomedical Translation & Editing

English > Russian < French

email: mail@...

http://www.biomedtrans.ru

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

I fully agree with , who has made a valid point.

Best regards

Astrid

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

I fully agree with , who has made a valid point.

Best regards

Astrid

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

>>As Helen says [let's not beat about the bush] most MDs will put their own

>>work first unless they have fully converted to translation. For a very

>>good reason: translating brings less money than doctoring. C'est la vie.

>not in this household - but the doctor has to be at the office from 9 to 5,

>more or less, so translating for him is relegated to weekends and days off,

>for now. translation *does* pay better than medicine (family practice,

>washington state) - and he's leaving his practice at the end of the year.

I am surprised by your comments about translator's income vs doctor's

income. Here in Canada, there's no way a translator will even come close to

make as much money as a doctor (any specialty, even a family doctor). And

several doctors are moving down to the States to make even more money!!

Regarding the other comments by other people on a Doctor vs a medical

translator, I have been discussing my medical translations with a doctor and

he wouldn't do my job anymore than I would do his. Physicians, specialized

or not, are not language specialists.

Best regards,

Alain

[Guest guest]

At 12:15 PM 5/15/2003 -0400, Jill Orenstein wrote:

>Can you point me to the issue of the ATA Chronicle in which that was

>published? I would like to take a look at it.

it wasn't in the chronicle - it was a separate publication:

1. " Translation and Medicine " is, Volume X of Scholarly Monograph Series,

American Translators Association, edited by Henry Fischbach, s

Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1998

2. ibid., Marla O'Neill, MD, pp. 69-80.

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 12:15 PM 5/15/2003 -0400, Jill Orenstein wrote:

>Can you point me to the issue of the ATA Chronicle in which that was

>published? I would like to take a look at it.

it wasn't in the chronicle - it was a separate publication:

1. " Translation and Medicine " is, Volume X of Scholarly Monograph Series,

American Translators Association, edited by Henry Fischbach, s

Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1998

2. ibid., Marla O'Neill, MD, pp. 69-80.

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 10:07 PM 5/15/2003 +1200, Purdy wrote:

>At 21:59 15/05/03, susan larsson wrote...

> >plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

> >o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

> >subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

> >translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

>

> " Come to a wash " is a new one on me - what sort of conclusion was it, or

>was it a non-conclusion?

guess i'll answer on-list after all; definition #53 from webster's:

.. Informal. an action that yields neither gain nor loss: The

company's financial position is a wash compared with last year.

neither gain nor loss - neither one proved to be better than the other;

each took certain skills to the table and it evened out in the end.

fwiw

susan

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 02:10 PM 5/15/2003 +0400, Sosnovsky wrote:

>Regardless of your qualifications and degrees, you can see that off-topic

>messages are usually much longer than in-topic ones, and very soon they gain

>priority on the list.

>

>What if we return to the main topic, once and forever?

isn't the main topic of the list... medical translation? and wouldn't the

issue of qualifications for a medical translator come under that topic?

resuming lurkdom,

susan

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

At 02:10 PM 5/15/2003 +0400, Sosnovsky wrote:

>Regardless of your qualifications and degrees, you can see that off-topic

>messages are usually much longer than in-topic ones, and very soon they gain

>priority on the list.

>

>What if we return to the main topic, once and forever?

isn't the main topic of the list... medical translation? and wouldn't the

issue of qualifications for a medical translator come under that topic?

resuming lurkdom,

susan

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 15/05/2003 16:10:28 GMT Standard Time,

ambigoushead@... writes:

> can any resident out there send me a paper or a reveiw article how a one can

> treat hypernatremic dehydration in childern.

Try

http://www.utoronto.ca/kids/gastrent.html

Google gets lots of others.

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 15/05/2003 16:15:38 GMT Standard Time, homernccm@...

writes:

> ITs an American phrase meaning not good or bad its a wash. Its over but no

> real results. Kinda like a waste of time

> Barbara CHaudhary RN CCM NLCP

> Seattle WA

Thanks to all.

Now, this one DOES sound like the West Coast I know and love! ;-)

Barbara, does the ferry still run to Vancouver Island?

Kinory MITI

[Guest guest]

,

it maybe is American [ " wash " ], but I know it as an accounting expression,

meaning an exact setoff. For example, I as an

agency am doing a job at cost, so [say] USD 100 comes in from the client and USD

100 goes out to the translator, so it's a

wash, i.e. leaves neither a debit nor a credit, a profit or a loss.

Dee

Lotsofwordz@... wrote:

> In a message dated 15/05/2003 10:57:58 GMT Standard Time, slarsson@...

> writes:

>

> > plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

> > o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

> > subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

> > translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

>

> ,

>

> I am unfamiliar with that last figure of speech: is it a West Coast / Swedish

> thing? ;-)

>

> Fully agree with Dee's comments.

>

> Kinory MITI

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

it's the case here in France too, that a good translator *can* make a lot more

than a doctor, esp. a country type doctor in

family practice, but the thing is, there will always be people in your catchment

area, who will sooner or later be sick or

at least pregnant or need preventive measures, whereas translation is a lot more

random. And when you look at the rates

charged by doctors for example in the San Francisco Bay area, where I last lived

before France ... well, I'd rather be a

doctor and not have let my mother get away with this idea that " it's no job

for a girl " ((( !

Dee

susan larsson wrote:

> At 02:47 AM 5/15/2003 -0700, Dee Braig wrote:

> >Hi Ana,

> >

> >As Helen says [let's not beat about the bush] most MDs will put their own

> >work first unless they have fully converted to translation. For a very

> >good reason: translating brings less money than doctoring. C'est la vie.

>

> not in this household - but the doctor has to be at the office from 9 to 5,

> more or less, so translating for him is relegated to weekends and days off,

> for now. translation *does* pay better than medicine (family practice,

> washington state) - and he's leaving his practice at the end of the year.

>

> >.... and, going back to the point so clearly made by Kinory, to

> >prepare a good translation it's much more important to be a good

> >translator with a good knowledge of the subject matter and a good

> >knowledge of research procedures [to find information] than to be a PhD in

> >the subject, or an MD or whatever. It really is a question of temperament,

> >and translation requires a completely different approach to written work,

> >especially to the written word, than scientists usually have. Not to

> >mention that speaking two languages, even perfectly fluently, doth not a

> >translator make, because there is so much linguistic knowledge, training

> >and savoir faire involved in the process in addition to simple grammatically

> >correct usage.

>

> plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

> o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

> subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

> translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end.

>

> fwiw

> susan

>

> swedish>english medicine * business * technology

> mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

> phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

> laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

>

>

> URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medical_translation

>

> In case of any problem with this list, you can reach the moderator at

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>

> To unsubscribe, please send an *empty* message to

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>

>

[Guest guest]

hi all

can any resident out there send me a paper or a reveiw article how a one can

treat hypernatremic dehydration in childern.

thx

---------------------------------

Yahoo! Plus - For a better Internet experience

[Guest guest]

Can you point me to the issue of the ATA Chronicle in which that was

published? I would like to take a look at it.

<< plenty of material has been written on this subject - M_T's own marla

o'neill, an MD, not a PhD, has written an article for the ATA on the

subject comparing the work of MDs who are translators with linguists who

translate medical texts - and she came to a wash in the end. >>

I would have to agree that it takes a different personality and set of

skills to be a translator of medical, biomed, biochem, etc. texts. Although

it is always nice to find someone who has been a doctor for a translation,

often they are actively involved in their profession and are gratified with

what they do. That is why they are there. I am thinking of my experience in

clinical interpretation.

These days, with the quantity and accessibility of parallel texts, paired

with good writing skills and an understanding of the sciences, one can be an

accurate medical translator without the degree.

Jill

[Guest guest]

Thanks, , I'll look for it.

Jill Orenstein

Spanish/English Language Services

email: juliruge@...

http://www.geocities.com/juliruge/

----- Original Message -----

At 12:15 PM 5/15/2003 -0400, Jill Orenstein wrote:

>Can you point me to the issue of the ATA Chronicle in which that was

>published? I would like to take a look at it.

it wasn't in the chronicle - it was a separate publication:

1. " Translation and Medicine " is, Volume X of Scholarly Monograph Series,

American Translators Association, edited by Henry Fischbach, s

Publishing Company, Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1998

2. ibid., Marla O'Neill, MD, pp. 69-80.

swedish>english medicine * business * technology

mailto:slarsson@... * mailto:s_larsson@...

phone/fax: +1 cell phone: +1

laconner washington usa * bokenäs uddevalla sweden

URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/medical_translation

In case of any problem with this list, you can reach the moderator at

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To unsubscribe, please send an *empty* message to

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