Medical Records Translation

<p>Medical records are read by clinicians, and clinicians act on them. That puts them in a different category from most documents we translate: an error is not a rejected filing, it is a wrong dose or a missed allergy. The standard is precision over readability, every time.</p>

Where medical translations are used

• Continuing care in the United States - a new physician, a specialist, a second opinion.
• International patient programmes at US hospitals, which review records before accepting a referral.
• The immigration medical exam. The civil surgeon completing Form I-693 reviews your vaccination history, and a foreign-language vaccination card has to be readable to count.
• School and university enrolment, which usually asks for immunisation records.
• Insurance, disability and injury claims, where records become evidence.

What precision means in practice

Drug names are translated as written. The same compound is sold under different brand names in different countries. We keep the name on the record and do not substitute a US brand - identifying the equivalent is the prescriber's decision.

Units and reference ranges are never converted. A result in mmol/L stays in mmol/L. Converting it would require assumptions a translator is not entitled to make, and a silent conversion is exactly the kind of error that goes unnoticed.

Dates are made unambiguous. 03/04 is March in one country and April in another. Where the format could mislead, the translation says which it is.

Handwriting that cannot be read is marked illegible. Clinical notes are often handwritten. A certifying translator cannot guess, and an honest gap is safer for the reader than a confident mistake.