Choose an option for the ethical dilemma in order to continue
Tutorial Video

Example Pediatrics Visit (Terp Demo)

Difficulty
Beginner
Domain
Medical
Subdomain
Pediatrics
Environment
Doctor's office
Region
USA
Time Estimate:
7 min.
Avg. Length per Line:
6 sec.
Introductory Summary
A mother and her young toddler come into a pediatrics clinic because the child has had a fever.
Disclaimer:
This text is an original work of fiction based on real scenarios. Any similarities between people or places are purely coincidental.
Participants
Abbr. Role Language(s)
Int Interpreter en-US es-US
C Child es-VE
M Mother es-VE
Dr Pediatrician en-US
Contributors
Author
Devin Gilbert
Audio Engineer
Omar Mendoza
Voice Actors
Interpreter
Devin Gilbert
Mother
Yohana Imperio
Pediatrician
Daniel Norat
Main Challenges
Most phrases are quite short, but toward the end of the encounter, they get a bit longer, so this will be a bit of a memory challenge for newer interpreters. The medical terminology isn’t overly dense or specialized, although there are a few specific medical terms that will likely be difficult (as well as some English words that may trip up interpreters who gravitate toward cognates). Some cultural terms or phraseology from Spanish may prove difficult.
Key Terminology and Vocabulary
English español
--- fever fiebre
--- symptom síntoma
--- antibiotic antibiótico
--- strep faringitis estreptocócica
--- bacterial infection infección por bacterias
--- prescribe recetar
--- prescription receta
--- temperature temperatura
--- thermometer termómetro
--- the day before yesterday anteayer
friend godmother of one's child comadre
--- fill surtir

Click or tap ???? to reveal terms in other language. Click again to hide.

Supplementary Resources
Interpreter Code of Ethics (NCIHC)
Strep Throat (Mayo Clinic)
Antibiotics (Mayo Clinic)

Dialogue

Press play on each line of dialogue or use the next audio button (bottom right of screen) or the alt + . key combination to move to and play each subsequent line of dialogue.

New!

Record yourself directly on Terp 🦕

’s practice session

Started:
Practice Phase:
Review Phase:

  1. meta

    Interpreter sees doctor in hallway

  2. speak icon Int TR-1

    * introduce yourself and do a pre-conference *

    Morning, I’m Rob. I’ll be interpreting today. Really quick before we see the patient, I just wanted to ask you to make sure to look directly at the patient when you speak, and just be aware that I’ll be interpreting everything both you and the patient say while we’re in there, so if you could keep things in manageable chunks, that would help me out a lot. Thanks!

  3. meta

    Doctor enters patient’s room and interpreter follows

    Notice the interpreter neglects to conduct a pre-session or even introduce themselves to the Spanish-speaking patient. Often it can be intimidating for an interpreter to jump in and do this, especially when there is an authority figure (the physician in this case) who will likely start the interaction.

    What do you think of the interpreter's omission of a pre-session here? Is it justified? Could the interpreter have been more assertive? What should they have done?

  4. Dr TR-2

    Hi there. What brings y’all in today?

  5. Int TR-3

    Buenos días. ¿Cuál es el motivo de la visita?

  6. M TR-4

    El comportamiento de mi hijo está raro últimamente.. No sé qué le pasa, doctor. No para de llorar desde que se enfermó.

  7. Int TR-5

    My son’s been behaving strangely lately. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, doctor. He hasn’t stopped crying since he got sick.

  8. Dr TR-6

    How long has he been like this?

  9. Int TR-7

    ¿Hace cuánto que está así?

  10. M TR-8

    Bueno, desde anteayer por la noche.

  11. Int TR-9

    It’s been since the day before yesterday. It started at night.

  12. Dr TR-10

    Has he had a fever?

  13. Int TR-11

    ¿Tiene fiebre?

  14. M TR-12

    Sí, parece que le arde la piel.

  15. Int TR-13

    Yeah, his skin’s been burning hot.

  16. Dr TR-14

    But, did you actually take his temperature?

  17. Int TR-15

    ¿Pero ya le tomó usted la temperatura?

  18. M TR-16

    No, pero sé cuando tiene temperatura.

  19. meta

    Mother looks slightly annoyed

  20. M TR-17

    * mirando hacia el intérprete y hablando despacito *

    Ay, ¿cómo no me va a creer este médico?

  21. Ethical Dilemma

    1. Stay quiet. Do not interpret what the patient said to the doctor.

    2. Interpret what the patient said to the doctor.

Option 1

  1. speak icon Int BR1-1

    * Interpreter hesitates, wondering whether to interpret what patient said *

    ... ... ...

  2. Dr BR1-2

    What did she say?

  3. read icon Int BR1-3

    She said she hasn’t actually taken his temperature.

  4. Dr BR1-4

    Oh, alright.

Option 2

  1. speak icon Int BR2-1

    * interpreta todo lo que dijo la mamá *

    No, but I know when he’s got a temperature. How’s this doctor not going to believe me?

  2. Dr BR2-2

    It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that there’s a difference between, for example, feeling his forehead and measuring his temperature with a thermometer.

  3. Int BR2-3

    No es que no le creo a usted. Es que hay una diferencia entre sentirle la frente, por ejemplo, y medirle la temperatura con termómetro.

  4. M BR2-4

    Bueno, no le tomé la temperatura con termómetro, pero aún así estoy segura que tenía fiebre.

  5. Int BR2-5

    Well yeah, I didn’t take his temperature with a thermometer, but I’m still sure he had a fever.

Main Dialogue Continued

  1. Dr TR-18

    I’m going to take his temperature again right now. My nurse said he was right in between high and normal temperature ranges.

  2. Int TR-19

    Voy a medirle la temperatura ahorita. Me dijo la enfermera que su temperatura está entre rangos altos y más normales de temperatura.

  3. M TR-20

    Ok. Está bien.

  4. Int TR-21

    Alright. That’s fine.

  5. Dr TR-22

    What other symptoms has he had?

  6. Int TR-23

    ¿Cuáles son los otros síntomas que tiene?

  7. M TR-24

    Bueno, mucha tos.. parece que no le ayuda. Mi comadre dice que es muy parecido a lo que tuvo su bebé hace unos dos meses más o menos.

  8. Int TR-25

    He’s been coughing a lot, but the cough seems unproductive. It seems really similar to what my friend’s baby had a couple months ago.

  9. Dr TR-26

    Hmmm.. Let me just check his throat here.. hmm.. Well, based on what I’m seeing here, I think he has strep throat, which is a bacterial infection. I’m gonna prescribe you some antibiotics, which should clear it up within a week or so.

  10. Int TR-27

    Voy a mirarle la garganta.. Con lo que veo de su garganta, creo que tiene una faringitis, una infección por una bacteria llamada estreptococo (lo que llaman ‘strep throat’ en inglés). Voy a recetarle un antibiótico, entonces así ya se le debe quitar en una semana.

  11. M TR-28

    Ah, ok. Gracias, doctor. Pero una semana es mucho tiempo, ¿no? ¿Hay algo más que puedo hacer?

  12. Int TR-29

    Ok. Thank you, doctor. But isn’t a week kind of a long time? Is there something else I can do in the meantime?

  13. Dr TR-30

    Well, you’ll notice improvement within only a couple of days. The thing with antibiotics is that you have to make sure you keep taking them until the entire prescription is gone. If you don’t, the infection could come back even stronger.

  14. Int TR-31

    Bien, usted va a ver que se pone mejorcito en solo unos días, pero con los antibióticos es primordial usar todo el medicamento de la receta hasta que ya no hay más. Entonces hay que darle el medicamento aun cuando ya no esté enfermo. Si no se termina la receta entera, la infección puede volver y va a estar más resistente también.

  15. M TR-32

    Ok, ya entendí entonces. Gracias por todo. ¿Dónde surtimos la receta?

  16. Int TR-33

    Ok, makes sense then. Thanks for everything. Where do we fill the prescription?

  17. Dr TR-34

    Oh, you can fill it at whatever pharmacy you like. You can arrange that with the front desk. Anything else I can do for you?

  18. Int TR-35

    Se puede surtir en la farmacia que guste. Eso se puede arreglar con los de la oficina. ¿Hay algo más en que le puedo servir?

  19. M TR-36

    No, eso es todo. ¡Muchas gracias!

  20. Int TR-37

    Nope, that’s everything. Thanks a ton!