Frontlines to the Classroom:  Advanced practice strategies for interaction management & sociolinguistic negotiation in the healthcare setting

The presenter will encourage interpreter trainers to teach their students to adopt an “interpreter practitioner” model of interpreter versus purely a "message converter.” She will share techniques to be taught to students, such as specific educational scripts, visual aids, and “high register negotiation” to enhance comprehension and trust. Andrea will also make the argument that interpreter trainers can help students understand why emotional intelligence is a necessary attribute for healthcare interpreters.

Learning Objectives:

1. Teach students specific scripts to effectively educate all parties of what you do and why
2. Share in the classroom specific visual aids to facilitate comprehension and enhance the clinical outcome
3. Train students about collaboration skills and innovative resolution to negotiate meaning of jargon and technical concepts

About the Presenter:

Andrea Henry, CHI™

Andrea Henry has been active in healthcare interpreting for 25 years. She began her career in 1994 as a freelance interpreter and later worked as a full-time OPI interpreter in Portland, Oregon. Andrea earned her B.A. in Spanish & International Studies with a minor in Ethnic Studies. After relocating to Atlanta, she spent six years developing interpreter services departments for two hospital systems. She has taken over 175 hours of interpreter education and has attended 30+ regional, national, and international conferences. Andrea is a full-time interpreter and the principal investigator for grant-funded research on interpreter mental fatigue at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.