ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Medical Interpretation: Spanish certificate program is designed to prepare students to become certified medical interpreters so they can pursue careers in medical interpretation and translation. The Medical Interpretation: Spanish certificate's comprehensive curriculum focuses on applied learning that prepares bilingual speakers to work as medical interpreters. Emphasis is placed on understanding the problems and complexities of interpretation, the roles and responsibilities of a medical interpreter, use of pertinent medical terminology and its context, and the development of interpretation skills.
This Program is Perfect For
Bilingual (Spanish/English) individuals interested in the medical field, medical professionals, or medical office workers.
What You Will Learn
By the end of the program student will be able to:
- Identify and discuss the process of translation and interpretation and differentiate between the roles of the interpreter/translator.
- Understand the problems and complexities of interpretation and the roles and responsibilities of a medical interpreter.
- Identify interpretation-related skills necessary in a medical setting.
- identify, understand, and use pertinent terminology representative of medical interpreting.
- Identify problems and apply problem-solving strategies necessary in a medical setting as a medical interpreter.
- Demonstrate awareness of the diverse cultural factors and linguistic sensitivity in medical interpreting.
Program Details
To earn the Medical Interpretation: Spanish Certificate you must successfully complete four required core courses.
Students enrolling in this program must be fluent in Spanish and English and must provide proof of proficiency in both languages. Acceptable documentation is listed below under the registration section of this page.
Please note: Both the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters and the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreting require certification applicants to be a minimum of 18 years of age, have a minimum high school diploma or GED, earn a certificate of completion from a medical interpreter training course of at least 40 hours (fulfilled by this program), and be orally proficient in both English and the target language (Spanish). Once the above requirements are met, candidates first take a written exam and then an oral exam.
Once you fulfill all certificate program requirements as outlined in the Academic Plan, you may request your certificate.
Prior to enrollment you must meet the following prerequisites:
You must have at least a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent.
You must be fluent in Spanish and English and must provide proof of proficiency in both languages by one of the mechanisms below. Language proficiency documentation must be received two weeks prior to course start. Once documents are accepted, you will be able to complete your registration.
Please scan and email at least one document from the list(s) below showing language proficiency to ce-assistant@unlv.edu. To avoid any potential security risks transferred through unsecured email, please remove references to social security numbers or confidential information on your documents prior to email submission. If you have several documents for one language, please scan them as one file for upload. If you started the program prior to August 2018 and have earned a passing grade in any of the six courses, you are exempt from the proficiency requirements. If you do not have documents from the list(s) to demonstrate proficiency, you may take the Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer (OPIc) placement exam through Language Testing International.
Acceptable Documents for Evidence of English Proficiency
- High school diploma from a high school in the U.S. or other English language country or from an American School abroad
- Bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, or any other degree from an institution of higher education in the U.S. or other English language country
- Language testing such as one of the following tests:
- TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language): 570+ on paper; 230+ on computer version; 90+ on iBT.
- ELPT (English Language Proficiency Test): 950+
- MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) 80+
- ECPE (Examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in English): PASS
- FCE (First Certificate in English, Level 3): A
- CAE (Certificate in Advanced English, Level 4): B
- CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English, Level 5): B
- IELTS (International English Language Testing System) 7.0
- ACTFL Oral Exams (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages): Advanced Mid Level; both the OPI (telephonic) and OPIc (computer recording) are acceptable.
- Successful passage of an established interpreter/translator certification exam (that includes a language-specific performance test), such as:
- The Federal Court Interpreter Certification Exam (FCICE)
- Any National Center for State Court (NCSC) exam
- Other national or state certification exams, e.g., ATA, BEI, NAJIT, NBCMI, RID, State of Washington Medical Interpreter Certification
Acceptable Documents for Evidence of Spanish Proficiency (documents must be translated into English)
- High school diploma from a high school in a country where Spanish is spoken
- Bachelor’s, master’s, PhD, or any other degree from an institution of higher education where Spanish is spoken
- 24+ semester college credit hours of Spanish
- Language Testing
- ACTFL Oral Exams (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages): Advanced Mid Level; both the OPI (telephonic) and OPIc (computer recording) are acceptable.
- Time spent studying and/or working where the applicant was required to perform tasks at a professional level in Spanish at least 75% of the time
Language Testing
If you do not have documents from the list(s) to demonstrate proficiency, you can take English or Spanish language proficiency exams online through our partnership with Language Testing International. Download instructions on how to access and schedule the exam. Please note, you must choose Exam Level 4 or higher to be evaluated for an advanced-mid level rating. You must have access to a computer with internet, microphone, and video capability to take the exam.