Medical Interpreting in Primary Care: Design and Validation of a Replicable Training Program

Language-concordant and professional interpreter-mediated care improve health outcomes, but clinics often lack resources to meet these needs. We developed and tested a replicable process to train heritage Spanish-speaking employees as qualified dual-role interpreters.

Our interdisciplinary team conducted a single-group, pretest-post-test study in a community health center. Participants (137 individuals) completed a demographic survey, a self-assessment of Spanish proficiency, a formal oral proficiency test of general Spanish, a 40-hour online medical interpreter course, and pre- and post-training interpretation assessments. We used a multivariate regression analysis, Spearman's rank-order correlation, and paired t-tests to analyze the results.

Of 137 enrolled, 87 completed training and post-assessment. Heritage speakers had limited ability to predict their general Spanish proficiency (β = .14, P = .003; ρ = .258, P = .003). No self-reported variables predicted baseline medical interpretation skills. After training, mean interpretation scores improved significantly (pretest 7.34 vs posttest 8.46; t(87) = 7.51, P <.001). Higher general oral proficiency predicted higher interpreting post-test scores (β = .31, P <.001; ρ = .486, P <.001), and those with lower proficiency were more likely to drop out. Overall, 72% (63/87) of participants who completed training achieved qualified interpreter status.

An affordable, online training program can effectively prepare heritage Spanish-speaking clinic employees to be qualified interpreters. Clinics can use this approach to meet federal language access standards and address health disparities.Abstract also available in French, Spanish, and German.