EN
In a conversation with a doctor what counts is not everyday fluency but precision. One misunderstood word in a description of symptoms can send the whole assessment off course, and a sentence not understood in a consent form leaves a person signing a document whose meaning they are reconstructing from tone of voice. Medical interpreting is therefore not a courtesy service but part of the treatment.
Why an ordinary interpreter is not enough
Medical language works differently from everyday speech. In it a “tumour” and a “growth” are not synonyms, “resection” and “removal” describe different extents of an operation, and a German report is full of abbreviations that mean nothing out of context. An interpreter without medical training translates the words correctly and the meaning approximately. The doctor then gets a blurred picture and has to ask again or order an unnecessary test.
There is a second side to it. A patient in a consulting room is almost always anxious and retains half of what is said. The job of the person accompanying you is not only to translate but to make sure you have understood: what exactly was found, what the options are, what will happen tomorrow morning.
Documents: before the trip and after
Before the trip we translate into German everything the hospital will rely on: discharge letters, operation reports, test results, image reports, histology findings. How specific the doctor’s first answer is depends on the quality of that package — and so does whether you will have to repeat on site examinations you have already had at home.
After treatment the work runs the other way. The discharge summary, the operation report, the prescriptions and the recommendations are translated into English, so that your doctor at home can carry on the follow-up rather than guess at what was meant. Medication schedules and the timing of check-ups we write out separately, in plain words.
Being accompanied at appointments
A member of our staff who speaks your language goes with you to consultations, ward rounds, the review of results and the conversation before an operation — the one where the risks are discussed and the consent is signed. The same person helps you make yourself understood with the nurses on the ward, who usually speak only German, and with the administration on practical matters.
You are assigned a particular person, not a general enquiries number. They have known your story since the first email, so there is no need to explain everything again each time. You can reach them outside office hours too, if something happens at the hospital in the evening or at the weekend.
If you have not come alone
Relatives who come along often find themselves in a position no easier than the patient’s: a strange city, an unfamiliar hospital routine, the need to decide things on behalf of someone close to them. We help them too — with practical matters, with appointments, and with understanding what is happening and what to expect over the next few days. When the doctor speaks to a relative directly and is understood, the situation stops feeling out of control.
This material is for information only and does not replace a consultation with a doctor. Whether treatment is possible, what it will involve and what it will achieve can be determined only after an examination at the clinic in person.