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13 Jul Tips for medical translation students

Medical translation is a specialised area which requires a certain level of expertise. There are many tiny details that will make the different between a good and a bad translation. Experience and background make any professional, however medical translation students can apply the following tips and ideas for improving.

Get familiar

Get familiar with medical texts, their terminology and the different translation techniques. Blogs can be very interesting for medical translation students and mailing lists are very useful for being aware of news, getting advices and starting knowing people of this area. You have access to all such contained information, but we recommend you not to answer unless you are pretty sure about what you can say.

Start thinking about specialization

If you really love medical translation, we strongly recommend you to specialise in one area – or maximum two. But do no rush and think carefully about it. This step is not necessary to be taken before ending university, but having a clear idea will be useful.

Get some experience as soon as possible

Any experience is welcome for medical translation students. So do not hesitate to do some internship, ask your University to give you some work, translate for a NGO… It would give you a further knowledge about how the medical translation world rules and would also provide some expertise with a positive impact.

What is your aimed job for the future?

There is an universe of working possibilities for medical translators but – simplifying this idea – most of these professionals work as a freelancer or in an in-house position. Start considering different options and creating a good profile for introducing yourself: a résumé, a cover letter, a professional website… It will get your dream-about job closer.

Be curious

This step is really important for medical translation students. Share your own background with your classmates and ask professional medical translators about their experiences. Any advice can help you improve, so do not miss the opportunity!