Course

Language Barriers in Healthcare Settings: A Case for Machine Translation Literacy

• S. Valdez

Date

Friday 9 May 2025 - Tuesday 27 May 2025

Address

Online

Aim

Designed for healthcare professionals, this course offers practical strategies and explores technological tools—such as Google Translate and ChatGPT—to navigate language barriers and communicate effectively with diverse patient populations.

Target Audience

This training is designed for health professionals engaged in multilingual communication with refugees, migrants, and expats, as well as those responsible for crafting public health materials for migrant communities in NGOs, local councils, and government institutions. It also benefits professionals who wish to explore the impact of translation and health communication on ensuring equitable healthcare access for diverse populations.

Start & End Dates

9 May - 27 May (6 online sessions in Zoom)

Enrol here!

Enrolment information

• Enrolment is possible via the button above
• Fee (includes certificate): €60
• Payment Method: Three weeks prior to the course start date, enrolled participants will receive payment information via email
• Contact & Support: If you have any questions, contact Noa Warren ([e-mail])

Module 1 - Language Barriers in Healthcare Settings and Migration

• Session 1: Friday, 9 May (14h-16h30)
• Session 2: Tuesday, 13 May (14h-16h30)

Module 2 - Machine Translation – The Fundamentals

• Session 3: Thursday, 15 May (14h-16h30)
• Session 4: Tuesday, 20 May (14h-16h30) 

Module 3 - Machine Translation and Other Translation Technologies

• Session 5: Friday, 23 May (14h-16h30)
• Session 6: Tuesday, 27 May (14h-16h30)

The course adopts a blended learning approach, leveraging both online and asynchronous components. It includes six online sessions, which include lectures, in-depth discussions, and interactive exercises. Participants will also have access to additional training materials, multimedia resources, and reflection activities.

Susana Valdez is an Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at Leiden University (Netherlands) and a visiting fellow at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom).

Following her PhD in medical translation, her research has centred on how health information is accessed, read, and understood in healthcare contexts, with or without translation technologies. She is currently leading a research project funded by the Dutch National Research Council (NWO) on reader reception of translated health information, particularly examining the impact of technologies on the reading process.

She has published over 20 research outputs in peer-reviewed and highly-regarded journals (Target, The Translator, Translation Spaces, Perspectives and The Journal of Specialised Translation) and publishers (Routledge) on health communication, migration, translation technology and machine translation.

For further details, see her ORCID and personal page.