How to Become a Certified Medical Interpreter

Becoming a certified medical interpreter offers significant opportunities in today’s world. With increasing immigration to North America, more people are seeking health care services without being able to speak or understand English. This has created a high demand for certified medical interpreters to provide essential language services in healthcare settings. Becoming a medical interpreter can lead to a rewarding and impactful career that benefits both you and your community.

Wondering what it takes to become a certified medical interpreter? As you might imagine, the most critical requirement is fluency in both English and another language at an advanced level. If you meet this criterion, there are two main steps to becoming a certified medical interpreter.

1. Interpreter Training
2. National Certification

Interpreter Training

Many people believe that being fluent in two languages is all it takes to be an interpreter, but there’s much more to it than that. Interpreting is a profession that requires specialized training to develop essential skills such as cultural competence, accuracy, strong listening and delivery abilities, memory retention, and adherence to ethical standards. Additionally, mastering specialized vocabulary—in this case, medical terminology—is crucial.

Training is essential because, without it, finding employment will be difficult. Additionally, if you’re aiming to move on to step two—National Certification—training is mandatory to be eligible to take the exam. The minimum training requirement is 40 hours (though the state of Oregon requires 60 hours). It’s important to note that everyone seeking to become a certified medical interpreter must meet this requirement, even doctors, nurses, or experienced interpreters.

Some employers may hire you with just a 40-hour certificate of completion, while others will only hire nationally certified interpreters. This is why most interpreters don’t stop at training—they go on to pursue national certification.

Where to Get Training as Medical Interpreter?

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in places offering 40-hour training programs. While you may find many options, it’s important to carefully choose a course that will truly equip you with the necessary skills and prepare you for real-world assignments and the national certification exams. Be sure to select an institution with a strong reputation that is approved by the certifying organizations.

At MITS, we have trained thousands of interpreters over the past 10 years and are recognized as a leading institution in medical interpreting. As an approved school with an impeccable reputation, we offer a 40-hour training program specifically for Spanish interpreters, as well as a 40-hour program for interpreters of other languages. Additionally, we provide 60-hour courses.

Upon completing the MITS training program, you will be eligible to apply for interpreting jobs and take the national certification exams.

It’s important to note that completing a training program at any school does not make you certified. A certificate of completion is not the same as certification. Certification is only achieved by passing the national certification exams. Below is a video that explains these two concepts more clearly.

National Certification

National certification as a medical interpreter is an official credential that validates an interpreter’s ability to perform medical interpretation at a professional level. It demonstrates that the interpreter has met rigorous standards in both language proficiency and knowledge of medical terminology and concepts. Certification is awarded by a certifying body after meeting specific requirements and passing exams that assess interpreting skills, ethics, and medical terminology.

There are two national certifying bodies in the U.S.:

• The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI), which currently offers three types of certifications:

1. CoreCHI™
2. CoreCHI-Performance™
3. CHI™

CHI stands for Certified Healthcare Interpreter.

• The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters (NBCMI), which offers two types of certifications:

2. Hub-CMI
3. CMI

CMI stands for Certified Medical Interpreter.

Here’s what national certification as a medical interpreter involves:

Eligibility

Both CCHI and NBCMI have similar requirements to sit for the exam:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Have at least a U.S. high school diploma (or GED) or an equivalent from another country.
• Complete a minimum of 40 hours of medical interpreting training.

• Submit documentation to prove linguistic proficiency in English and the primary language for which you are seeking certification.

There are several ways to demonstrate your language proficiency, such as through school transcripts, diplomas, test scores, or letters of attestation from an employer, professor, or school. For English language exams, you may refer to TOEFL, ELPT, MLA, or ECPE. For other languages, you can check with Language Testing International (LTI) or Parrot Language Testing.

Exams to become certified

The certification process typically includes both a written and oral exam:

1. • The written exam covers medical terminology, ethics, and interpreting standards.

1. • The oral exam assesses language proficiency and interpreting skills, including consecutive and simultaneous interpreting as well as sight translation.

Consult the CCHI’s candidate’s Examination Handbook for more detailed information.

Consult the NBCMI Candidate handbook. For more detailed information

Certification Types

The type of certification you earn and the exam you take will depend on your working language and the certifying organization you choose (CCHI or NBCMI). For example, CCHI offers bilingual exams only for Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin. On the other hand, NBCMI offers bilingual exams for Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

For languages that do not have bilingual exams, you can opt for the CoreCHI™, CoreCHI-Performance™, or the Hub-CMI. To earn these certifications, you will only need to take a written exam, which is entirely in English. However, if you choose the CoreCHI-Performance™ path, you will also need to take an English-to-English oral exam.

We understand that these certification types and exams can be a bit complicated. To help clarify, we’ve created the video below.

Benefits of Certification

Being nationally certified can improve job prospects, increase earning potential, and provide assurance to employers and clients that the interpreter meets industry standards. It also ensures interpreters are equipped to handle complex medical scenarios with accuracy and professionalism.

Overall, national certification is a key milestone in establishing oneself as a qualified and competent medical interpreter.

If you have further questions, we recommend taking a moment to browse the CCHI and NBCMI websites. These organizations can only be reached via email, so you won’t find a phone number. However, you can call us at 818-465-8425 with any inquiries, as we are well-versed in this process and familiar with both organizations.