Week Seven

Week Seven at Mount Sinai has been great. I had a very strong clinical focus this week, and spent a lot of time with patients. I have really enjoyed the amount of direct contact that I have had with the children and the opportunities that I have had to practice administering the CAT/CLAMS. However, I was really intrigued by an experience that I had with a family yesterday. The family came to us with very sick twin premature babies. Not only was the medical situation very complicated, but it was further complicated by the fact that the family spoke almost no English. With my Spanish background, the pediatrician asked me if I could translate. I felt pretty confident in my abilities until the mother opened her mouth and all I heard was a slur of Spanish words. I had absolutely no idea what she had said to me. I asked her to speak a little slower, so that I could get my ears ready for the stream again, but the pediatrician decided to call up the translating service. This meant that the rest of the visit required the doctor to pass a phone back and forth with the family to allow them to communicate. Through this experience, I developed a strong appreciation for medical translators, but also, was saddened by the experience. With sick children, a worried mother should not have to rely on a voice over the phone. She should be able to have a doctor’s appointment like anyone else, and thus, be able to see the doctor and the person communicating with her. With such a large Hispanic population in New York City, I was disappointed that the hospital has not set up an on-call translator for visits with patients who speak very little English. Not only would this be a great opportunity for students learning Spanish, but it would also be very helpful to Hispanic families.

Developmental Pediatrician's Office

Developmental Pediatrician's Office