How to start medical translation ? Thread poster: jiajunjorkyin
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I am having courses for B.S in pharmaceutical sciences .
My questions ：
1.How to start pharmaceutical translation?
2.how many fields are medical translations divided into?
3.How to accumulate knowledges and experiences in clinical medicine?
4.How to meet with the clients and end users?
| | | | Marjolein Snippe 
Netherlands
Local time: 10:31
Member (2012)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| Get experience elsewhere first | Nov 29, 2021 |
Hi Jiajun (apologies if you would rather be addressed as Jork or Yin!),
This is a rather basic question. I am sure there are a lot of different ways to go about this - here are just some suggestions, but others may have completely different answers to your questions!
1. I think that you are making a good start by doing a BSc in pharmaceutical sciences.
Because pharmacy and medicine can be tricky fields requiring a very detailed understanding, I would suggest acqu... See more Hi Jiajun (apologies if you would rather be addressed as Jork or Yin!),
This is a rather basic question. I am sure there are a lot of different ways to go about this - here are just some suggestions, but others may have completely different answers to your questions!
1. I think that you are making a good start by doing a BSc in pharmaceutical sciences.
Because pharmacy and medicine can be tricky fields requiring a very detailed understanding, I would suggest acquiring some experience in the field somewhere else (by working for a pharmaceutical company, a research organisation, a laboratory) before trying to work as a (freelance) medical translator. That was, you get a much better understanding of the material. If you don't want to go this route, perhaps you can start by translating fairly general patient-facing brochures that require less in-depth understanding than clinical/pharmaceutical protocols and summaries of product characteristics. Just make sure you really, thoroughly understand any text you accept for translation, as the consequences of mistranslations can be serious.
2. There is no specific number of fields. Each field or sub-field can be as broad or as narrow as you or the client defines it.
3. See my reply to question 1.
4. In my experience, pharmaceutical texts that need to be translated to (in my case) Dutch, will often also need to be translated to a number of other languages. That is why many pharmaceutical companies use translation agencies. I hardly work for any direct clients. There are many translation agencies that can be found here on Proz.com or on other translators' sites. You could start by contacting a number of agencies. Be prepared to do a translation test or not to hear anything back - it's all part of the trade! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 02:31
Dutch to English
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To answer your question about fields in medicine, there are many. When I was working at a medical school there were about 50 fields, including sub-fields. For example, Internal medicine alone has about 10 sub-specialties, such as gastroenterology, endocrinology, and cardiology, just to name a few.
It's impossible to know them all, but you gain more knowledge as you translate. I agree with everything Marjolein has said, it's good advice. Start with general documents and learn from t... See more To answer your question about fields in medicine, there are many. When I was working at a medical school there were about 50 fields, including sub-fields. For example, Internal medicine alone has about 10 sub-specialties, such as gastroenterology, endocrinology, and cardiology, just to name a few.
It's impossible to know them all, but you gain more knowledge as you translate. I agree with everything Marjolein has said, it's good advice. Start with general documents and learn from them. When you look up something online, read the whole article. That's why translating is so interesting, because you learn all the time.
[Edited at 2021-11-29 17:23 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | jiajunjorkyin
China
Local time: 16:31
English to Chinese
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Thank you for your supports and please keep in contact.
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