Spanish-English Health Care Interpreter Training

In this popular Spanish-English Health Care Interpreter Training program, you'll gain exposure to the profession of health care interpreting and learn what it takes to work in the field delivering high quality, equitable health care access to limited English proficient individuals.

Whether you’re new to the profession or an experienced interpreter looking to get Qualified or Certified, this course provides value that will help you improve your skillset and achieve your professional goals!

This Health Care Interpreter Training course meets the formal education requirements to earn your OHA credential (Qualification or Certification).

Health Care Interpreter Training

In this engaging online and onsite Health Care Interpreter course, you'll learn everything you need to be a competent, successful interpreter in a health care setting.

Specifically tailored for Spanish-English interpreters and taught primarily in English, this 64-hour hybrid training program covers:

Health care interpreter ethics established by NCIHC
Anatomy
Medical terminology
Consecutive and simultaneous interpreting
Sight translation
Remote interpreting skills
Performance evaluation based on weekly individual interpreter practices with an instructor

Each week has a specific focus: both an anatomy system (such as the cardiovascular system or skeletal system) and a vocabulary topic from the textbook (such as medical instruments and devices, or roots, prefixes and suffixes) that will help you learn medical terminology in English and Spanish.

You'll gain the skills necessary to confidently interpret in both simultaneous and consecutive modes in a medical setting.

Building a Career

At the end of the course, you will learn how to take your interpreting skills and build a career in this high-demand industry.

This course is designed to meet the Oregon Health Authority’s training requirements for health care interpreters, and you will be guided through the process of completing applications to be added to the OHA Registry of Certified and Qualified Health Care Interpreters.

CAREER INSIGHT

Learn from your instructors, two highly experienced industry professionals, about career opportunities, professional advancement, and networking opportunities. We will spend time comparing work as a freelancer and work as an employee.

Finally, this program offers weekly one-on-one interpreting opportunities with its instructors to gain real-world experience and feedback with the support of a mentor. After completing the training course, you will have confidence in your ability to put what you have learned into practice in the medical field.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

1. Distinguish between, identify when to use, and perform:

Simultaneous
Consecutive
Sight Translation
Basic written translation

2. Demonstrate foundational interpreting skills, including:

Message conversion skills and discourse analysis
Clear and understandable speech delivery
Target language equivalence (e.g., expletives, idioms, and colloquialisms)
Ability to identify differences in meaning due to regional dialects
Ability to identify, maintain and change voice register at varying levels of formality
Memory skills (e.g., chunking, prediction, visualization, note-taking, and active listening)
Self-monitoring and self-assessment
Cultural competency (what culture is and how it affects health and health care)

3. Identify and apply ethical principles to which health care interpreters must adhere.

4. Interpret medical terms accurately, by:

Learning basic anatomy and physiology and medical terminology
Identifying and using reliable sources to look up unfamiliar terms
Asking for clarification appropriately

5. Understand the national and state credentialing and renewal process for health care interpreters.

COURSE SCHEDULE

The course is made up of 64 training hours and includes: 16 hours in-person, 4 hours synchronous Zoom sessions, and 44 hours self-paced online.

Spring 2025 Schedule

• March 14: Last day to request language proficiency test
• March 20: Last day to take the language proficiency test

Zoom Introductory Welcome Zoom Session: 12pm-1pm Mountain Time on Friday April 11th

Module 1-2 in-person session (in Ontario): 8 am - 12pm Mountain Time on Friday, May 2
• Week 4 (Module 3)

Module 3 Zoom session: 12pm - 2pm Mountain Time on Friday, May 9
• Week 5 (Module 4)
• Week 6 (Module 5)

Module 4-5 in-person session (in Ontario): 8am - 5pm Mountain Time on Friday, May 23
• Week 7 (Module 6)

Module 6 Zoom session: 12pm - 2pm Mountain Time Friday, May 30
• Week 8 (Module 7)
• Week 9 (Module 8)

Course Overview

During the eight weeks, we will cover:

Week 1 - Introduction to Interpreting

Week 2 - Interpreting in the Health Care Setting

Week 3 - Ethics

Week 4 - Interpreting Skills (interpreting in consecutive mode)

Week 5 - Interpreting Skills (interpreting in simultaneous mode)

Week 6 - Memory for Interpreters

Week 7 - Note-taking

Week 8 - Next Steps: Working as a Health Care Interpreter

Health Care Interpreter Prerequisites

Before entering the course, you must have:

● A high school diploma or GED.

● Proof of language proficiency in English and Spanish. Examples of acceptable proof of language proficiency can be found here.

If you need to obtain proof of language proficiency, please register for the course at least one month prior to the start date.

Program Partnership

This course was developed in partnership with the College of Health with funding from Eastern Oregon Coordinated Care Organization (EOCCO).

April 7 - June 15

Nine weeks | Asynchronous
Online and in Ontario, OR

Online and Onsite

$1,150 ($143.75 per module)
$805 ($100.62 per module)
for students in Eastern Oregon Counties (Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, or Wheeler)

Optional: $108 Language proficiency is required. If you do not have proof of proficiency, please select the test when registering.

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Request More Information

Additional Information: Location of in-person class days:
OSU Malheur Extension Office
710 SW 5th Ave, Ontario, OR 97914

Questions about the course? Contact Ryan Popma, Health Care Interpreter Program Coordinator and Instructor

Download the course schedule/syllabus

“OSU’s Healthcare Interpreter Training Program allows participants the chance to experience a variety of possible scenarios one might encounter in the field. Felicity and Ryan really listened and understood my goals as an individual. They highlighted my strengths and encouraged me to challenge myself in areas where I needed improvement. Our cohort had plenty of opportunities for both one-on-one and group practice sessions, and the hybrid online/in-person model meant that attending classes was more easily accessible to me as a working parent. OSU’s program gave me a strong foundation to be the kind of professional I strive to be as a healthcare interpreter.”

Past Healthcare Interpreter Student

Instructors

Felicity Ratway

Felicity Ratway has a Master’s degree in Interpreting and Translation Studies from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. She has been working as an interpreter in Oregon since 2015, and has experience as both an employee and a freelance interpreter.

Felicity has taught a number of continuing education courses for interpreters on topics ranging from medical marijuana to advocacy in interpreting. She has presented at conferences including the International Medical Interpreters Association Conference, the Oregon Society of Translators and Interpreters Conference, and the Oregon Health Care Interpreters Association Conference.

Ryan Popma

Ryan Popma holds a BA in Spanish from the University of Oregon and embarked on his healthcare interpreting career by completing the 156-hour Oregon Spanish Health Care Interpreter Training at COCC in Eastern Oregon. He achieved national certification through the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) in 2017 and has been a dedicated professional healthcare interpreter since 2016. In 2019, Ryan further advanced his expertise by earning a Master’s degree in Interpreting and Translation Studies from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.

Ryan’s professional experience as a healthcare interpreter spans various channels and settings. As an independent contractor in Portland, OR, he collaborated with multiple language agencies, gaining valuable insights into diverse health systems. He has also worked as a video remote interpreter for a leading nationwide language company. Currently, Ryan works in the Portland area, focusing primarily on appointments at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

Past Students' Work

Take a look at some recent projects our students have created.