Medical translations and accuracy are often seen as a single unified concept. Medical translation is one of the most difficult type of translation to undertake. Of course, there are translators that are doctors, but these translators are difficult to find. The translator has to understand a plethora of biological concepts and be familiar with the industry. This is usually provided during the scope of special trainings for medical translators and there are many databases available to translators in order to see how specific medical texts have been translated in the past. This enables translators to learn specific common phrases or jargon used in the pharmaceutical industry. Some translation agencies also offer content checking services, where experts, who have had medical training or are medical specialists proofread the final translations and check them not only for proper translation, but also the content of both the source and the target texts.
Providing reference files (websites, old translations, product descriptions, and terminology) is also imperative. The best tool to ensure the quality of medical translations is providing feedback. After you get the translation and this has been reviewed at a medical level, make sure that any changes that had been made are forwarded to the translator to ensure the changes are incorporated into future translations.
Medical translations, especially with regard to clinical trials, instructions on how to take medicine, or the description of side effects have to be very accurate, because mistakes could potentially harm human lives. If you go to an agency offering bottom dollar, the proper quality controls are probably not in place to ensure that the translation is done correctly. Most agencies charge a little extra for medical translations. This is because the translation not only takes longer, but also ensuring that proper proofreading takes place is also more challenging in order to ensure the highest quality possible.
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