Medical translation remains as one of the most delicate and demanding fields in the translation world. This type of translation is one of the most difficult because medical texts contain a huge amount of abbreviations, acronyms and terms specific to the industry, as well as medical content in a language that ordinary consumers can understand easily.

Besides fluency in at least a language pair, medical translators often require a bachelor’s degree in a field related to any medical science or a medical assistant program so that they have an in depth knowledge of medical terminology to use when working in translations.

Medical translation is often required for medical device instructions, training materials of healthcare, several types of documents such as clinical or regulatory, for marketing purposes, as well as technical glossaries, and of course, specialized books.

The medical industry operates worldwide and leading companies in pharmaceutics, medical device manufacturers and related services need the help of medical translators.

In addition, doctors require the services of medical translators for their patient records, medical history, prescriptions or diagnoses when they are written in another language. It is important to consider that medical texts mostly involve the lives of patients which is why there should be a strong focus on the quality of the translation.

Translation in the Medicine field involves a big range of areas, categorized according to specialization. Aside from having excellent linguistic skills in their chosen language pair and have knowledge of the subject matter as well as professional training, some translators also need to specialize in specific kinds of documentation to complement their background experience.

Likewise, they must have a general knowledge of physiology, anatomy and knowledge of the medical terms and their meaning.

Some of the most demanded documents in medical translation include:

• Website/marketing materials

Hospital and other medical facility websites and their marketing materials often should be translated into various languages to reach as many potential patients are possible.

• Signage

Medical facilities with numerous departments need signage in different languages according to which are the most common languages spoken by the community.

• Patient information

Patient information and intake forms should be in the patient's native language, as well as in the language the physician speaks.

• Documents about clinic trials

Clinical trials are vital to the development of medicine and people participating in them should be very aware of the possible risks and compensations that may be involved in the course of the trials, which is why all of these documents should be presented in the language of the audience and participants.

• Prescription labels

The prescription labels and the documentation that come with the medicine should be translated into the patient's native language so they can understand the use of the drug and some of the effects, prevention, etc.

Just like doctors have to be familiar with new medical terms, medicine, conditions and disease, the medical translator should be up to date regarding them as well.

Medical texts are always regulated since they are highly sensitive and technical in nature, which is why it needs more attention such as subject matter expertise to be able to accurately translate various documents, from labels to leaflets, to medical journals to patient journals, to training materials to patents.