It can be hard to find someone to translate for health care appointments in the Inland Northwest.
A student-led initiative at Washington State University is addressing that.
WSU medical students Carmella Crooks and Victoria Caldera, both Venezuelan, are leading a pilot project aimed at increasing the number of certified medical interpreters and bridging language barriers many non-English speakers face. The student-led effort is backed by WSU and Nuestras Raíces.
“We knew that we were going to be taking over the leads of the Latino Medical Student Association for our school, and started brainstorming what we wanted our impact to be,” Crooks said.
While the university is providing institutional support, certification costs are being covered by Waters Meet Foundation, which will fund 10 students, and Nuestras Raíces, which will cover three. The total cost for each certification process is $1,200 for classes and tests. The test is available in multiple languages, including Spanish, Russian and Korean.
“Language access is vital for community health and wellness,” said Zeke Smith, president of Waters Meet Foundation. “We’re proud to support these WSU students and Nuestras Raices who are dedicating their time and talent to promote more equitable health care access in our region.”
Luis Manriquez, the university’s director of community health equity, said if the pilot project proves successful, WSU may explore ways to formally integrate it into the College of Medicine curriculum. Manriquez said the 13 students will begin in May and complete a six-month training program.
“Hopefully it’s something that we can then pull into the school and that will be a thing that the school can offer to students that are coming in bilingual and that will help us remove a barrier to care for people in Washington that are non-English speakers,” he said.
Norah West, interim senior director for Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said they have certified 1,807 medical interpreters in Washington – 351 in Eastern Washington and 1,456 in Western Washington.
West noted DSHS does not certify all medical interpreters working in hospitals and medical centers across the state. Still, the agency has received emails indicating increased demand.
“Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen a consistent increase in the number of inquiries about resources for interpreters and translators,” West said.
Caldera said this idea behind this initiative was inspired by their own experiences.
Crooks said she remembers having to pay close attention during her grandmother’s medical visits so she could help translate at a young age. Caldera shared a similar experience, saying her grandmother becomes emotional when a physician greets her in Spanish and explains her diagnoses in her native language.
Caldera added they have both encountered similar situations in work settings.
“We actually both lived in California for a good amount of time, and in that time, we were working in hospitals where we were not certified medical interpreters, and we were being put in positions where we were having to interpret for patients because there was nobody else there,” she said.
“Even though we felt comfortable speaking Spanish, we were not trained or certified to do that, and there are risks with that,” Caldera said.
This is a common occurrence for non-English speaking community members. And if they can, they’ll rely on a family member who can interpret for them instead.
Fernanda Mazcot, executive director of Nuestras Raíces, said the initiative will help open conversations many communities experience with their providers.
With Nuestras Raíces providing several behavioral health services at its locations in Spokane and Othello for the Latino community, she said the organization often works with individuals and their families who encounter language barriers firsthand.
“Our focus is the individual, but the family as well. We know that’s such a big part of our (Latino) culture,” Mazcot said. “A lot of the work that we do really is having resources and direct services for everybody in the household.”
Crooks said they hope the initiative will highlight the need for interpreter certification and encourage the university to view financial support for bilingual medical students as part of its broader mission to improve access to care.
“That’s the power of language,” Caldera said.
