The Importance of Connectivity in Remote Medical Interpreting
Kristin B.: Hello everyone and welcome to AMN Live Q&A. So happy to be here again this month. We have a really exciting topic to discuss. So, we are going to be chatting with two of our own AMN interpreters, and they are going to be giving us insight into staying engaged in the remote world. Of course, this is a big topic right now, ever since the pandemic; everybody wants to work remote, right? The good thing is here at AMN, we have a ton of remote opportunities. So, this is your chance as the audience to tap into two of our excellent resources here and really ask questions. You know, any questions that come to mind, but you're going to hear a little bit about what they think it takes to stay engaged and stay connected as a remote worker.
A little bit of housekeeping, I always like to say, you know, this is your opportunity as the audience to ask your questions. Make sure you're dropping questions in the chat. We already have some, so I'll get to those in just a minute. And, you know, happy to kind of be here as a resource for you.
Introduction, my name is Kristen Burk, and I'm a recruitment manager here for AMN. I've been with the company for eight years, and I'm steering the ship that is bringing in all these excellent interpreters. So, I'm joined by Jillian and Rebeca, and also Trenton doing our ASL interpreting and Audrey on the back end as an ASL interpreter as well.
Jillian, can you start out by introducing yourself to the audience?
Jillian S.: Hi everyone, I'm Jillian from Sedona, Arizona. But really, in this world, it doesn't matter where we're from. I've been interpreting for over 25 years, and most of that has been in the medical field. I became full-time at AMN about seven years ago. I initially started very hesitantly; it was not a service that initially the deaf community loved. I am an American Sign Language interpreter, and much to my surprise, the first shift I had, I saw all the good that it could do. It just was an amazing experience, and I've loved every moment of being here.
Kristen B.: Excellent. Thank you. And, Rebecca, please introduce yourself to the group. Oh, we can't hear.
Rebeca R.: Can you hear me now? There we go. Sorry. I'm Rebeca. I'm actually Costa Rican, and I've been an interpreter for almost six years now. I've been with AMN for three and a half years. I started out after I graduated college, then I took a little detour. I went to the Middle East for three years, and I was a flight attendant where I saw the need for clear communication more clearly. Then, when I came back to Costa Rica, I said I need to get back on track with what I love, which is translation and interpreting, and here I am.
Kristen B.: So, this is two very unique perspectives. We have one US-based interpreter who is a sign language interpreter and then another spoken language interpreter from Costa Rica. Great perspectives we have here. So, one common theme that you're probably going to hear throughout this conversation is how we are different. We are not like other interpreting companies.
Effective Communication Techniques for Remote Medical Interpreters
So, the first question is for Jillian, actually. Can you kind of tell the audience what sets us apart from other interpretation companies?
Jillian S.: Of course. For me, the number one thing when I was looking for a VRI company to work for was one that had Certified Deaf Interpreters, which is what Trenton is. It allows us to work with individuals who are deaf that have certain language needs, regardless of what those are. And in the fields when we're in-person interpreting, we often don't have that luxury. There's just not enough CDIs out there. So, for me, that was really important to find a company that did provide the service.
And I have to say, the group of CDIs that we have here is the best of the best. I mean, they are... I know when I get one of them and I need them, that the assignment is going to go very smoothly. Along with teaming, I can also pull in one of my hearing colleagues if it's just a long session, maybe a diabetes education. Sometimes those can last for an hour or two, so I'll bring in another interpreter with me, and we'll go back and forth teaming that together.
Out in the field, from what I've heard from a lot of friends, they do not have CDIs and they do not have the ability to team. They're kind of just working in silos, which is really heartbreaking, I think, because you have so many more resources. If maybe I know one of my colleagues is more experienced in something than I am, I'll grab them because I know they have that extra knowledge. So, to think about just working solo is very disheartening, almost takes a step backward for our field.
So, AMN is providing both the ability to team, the ability to use CDIs, and if we need to, we can debrief with colleagues after some tough sessions, which has been extremely beneficial.
Utilizing Technology: Virtual Collaboration Tools for Medical Interpreting Teams
Kristen B.: Yes, yes. So, talking about staying connected, and I mean, you took the words right out of my mouth because one thing we hear from our candidates who are interested in ASL interpreting is that they love that we have the CDI team, and that is truly a way to bring everyone together and make sure you have job satisfaction and we're providing the best care as well. So, thank you for that.
Next question. It's actually the same question. So, what do you think sets us apart from other interpreting companies that you've worked for?
Rebeca R. Yes, I think it's very interesting that I used to work as a remote interpreter, but we had in the previous company, we had to go to the office, and I had to be there, and I could see my other teammates, and I would get support from afar, you know? But we didn't have a team person, say, or a manager that would follow us, which I think is very important, you know? Because as interpreters, we have to help so many people, but sometimes we, as human beings, also have needs that need to be heard, so we can do our best for others.
So, the fact that this being a very independent job where you're alone all the time and you don't have someone to go to specifically, this is what changes here. I have my manager I can reach out to, tell her what's going on, if there is something I need, and that's something very comforting as well as we have team leads that are there all the time during our shift.
And it's very interesting because sometimes, as Jillian said, we have sessions in which we're there for one hour, two hours. I've been in a session for three hours, right? And sometimes they would just drop in the chat, in the team's chat, "Rebeca, are you okay? How are you feeling? Is there anything that we, as your team lead, can do to assist you?" I have had instances in which it's been two hours, and I'm like, I need to get a toilet break, you know? And they're like, it's fine. Just tell your provider, "I need a toilet break," and that's fine. And that's very comforting, and I don't think you would get that in any other company, really.
So, if you need immediate assistance, there's always a team lead. And if there's something big, then you can always reach out to your manager, which will at least know you one on one and know a little bit about you.
Fostering Team Engagement: Tips for Remote Medical Interpreters
Kristen B.: That's great, that's great. And that's another thing I know my recruiting team is always sharing feedback that some other VRI companies, I mean, you might get hired and have no idea who your manager is. You're kind of in this little lonely island, so I think it's so important to highlight that you know at AMN we truly do focus on a collaborative environment and creating that supportive team feeling as much as we can. Of course, you are working at home, but we try our hardest.
So, I'm going to take a quick pause and answer some questions that we had come in to the chat. So, first question came from Nora, and Nora is asking how many years of experience she should have to get a job with AMN. Nora is looking for a remote position, lives in Florida. So, great question. We can really take individuals from all levels and all backgrounds for spoken languages. So, we do have a few different training options. I would say, definitely throw your application in, and we would love to contact you. The ideal for years of experience we would say was two years. Thankfully, now we've created some trainings to where we can even really give someone with just a couple months of experience the skills that they need to feel comfortable interpreting so certainly apply. Arabic is always a hot language for us. The next question is “What kind of interpreter do you offer?”. So, I'm not sure exactly what that question is, but I will say that we have in-person interpretation in various markets throughout the U.S., we have over the phone interpreters as contractors and of course VRI is our main line of business.
Now I know the audience always loves to hear stories from the field, so Jillian do you have an example of a time that you know you felt supported, maybe a time that you had a really rough call and wanted to just talk to a colleague afterwards or maybe a time that you wanted to share an uplifting story with your work network.
Jillian S.: Sure, I'll share a story. I think Rebecca has a very uplifting one, so I'm going to go the opposite end of the spectrum and talk about an end of life situation that was on every aspect um it just went as wrong as it could go from the medical perspective. It was the husband and wife. They were both Deaf, and the wife was in the process of passing away. She was undergoing a full code, so they didn't ask the husband to leave because they felt they couldn't communicate with him. So he's in the room watching her to be intubated, and it was just, he just, I think, traumatized, and they basically said just be here for him. And I think we probably sat on the phone together for about three hours where people would kind of come in every once in a while, but there was a lot of me just interpreting what was going on until she passed, and it was just a heart-wrenching call, and when I finished, I just kind of reached out to one of my colleagues and said “I just need to get this energy out from what I experienced.” I said, “You know, do you have a few minutes?” And she's like “Sure, I'm not on a call”. And we connected via Teams, so it's almost like a face to face. And she was just lovely. I just, I think, I just needed to cry. So, I just have these tears pouring down my face, and she just sat there and listened, and she said, “And how do you feel now?” And I was like “Oh, that's just what I needed.” I just needed to be heard. Sometimes our job is really hard and really can be traumatic, and we need to take care of ourselves. And it was just such a lovely way to kind of wrap all that up. I felt much better, and I was just so grateful that there are so many colleagues that I could just say hey do you have a second. And they all, if they're not in a call, they'll be there for us in a moment.
Kristen B.: That's so good. Yeah, and I mean, I couldn't imagine interpreting and being exposed to the kind of things that you all are exposed to and then just not having anyone to necessarily talk to about it afterwards. And this by the way, for anyone in the audience, if you're interested in learning more on this topic, vicarious trauma, we did actually cover it last year. We did one of these live shows that you can find on our website. It was excellent, and we talked all about that topic. So, yeah, Rebeca, so do you have any examples of a time that you felt supported either for an uplifting story you wanted to share or something?
Rebeca R.: Of course. I do agree with Jillian that generally I reach out to my colleagues after something hard has happened. Like I feel sad, or this has been so heartbreaking, or I'm so tired. But I also reach out because, in my case, I work a night shift. It's not as varied as I had during the day because I used to work a day shift as well at the beginning when I started with AMN, which there's all the specialties. And during the night, it's quick ER visits, or I have a very unpopular opinion of labor and delivery, which is that it is not my favorite to be really honest with you. I know people love it, but it's not my favorite thing. And it gets kind of routinary because it's like the same thing that I'm interpreting or the same questions really often, and sometimes you get the feeling that you're not helping as much as you would like.
And I had this call the other day in which there was a child from 8 to 10 years old. I get on the call, and they're screaming and crying, and I do not know what's going on. The baby is in a lot of pain, the mom is crying, and the issue is the baby speaks Spanish. The mom speaks a dialect of Spanish that I have no idea of. So, to make it short, they called Auntie on the phone. So, Auntie is interpreting for me and the mom, and I'm interpreting for the nurse.
The issue was that the mom didn't think the baby's pain was being addressed, so there was a long time in which we were just trying to explain what was being done. And she got very calm, and there was some understanding, and the medicine was starting to work, and everything was fine. And then the mom starts crying again. And I'm shocked, the nurse is shocked, and the mom’s begging through Auntie, like please do not make me leave my child. And we were so confused, and then the nurse realized they had offered her a resource if she wanted a room for her to sleep in that was across the street if she wanted to take a break. When I rendered that, the look of relief in this woman's face.
Finally, she understood what was being done for pain control and having the chance to either stay or leave, to get a break, it was such a relief on this mama's face. The baby was finally good, and I was like, this is what I'm here for.
I reached out to my colleague, which I reach out most often. His name is Alejandro. And I'm like, Ale, you know this call today, this is what I'm here for. I feel so happy that I was able to bring peace to somebody's heart, and that's what I try to reach out for like to uplift my colleagues knowing that we do make a change you know that's so good yeah and it's so important to keep those good vibes flowing right because it can be, I mean, you know, I think most of the calls are kind of routine lots of just normal doctor visits and things like that, and then you get some that are really heavy, but, yeah, those are what it's all about right.
Kristen B.: That's great. So, we're going to take one more question that came in from the chat, and this is from Elizar. Elizar, sorry if I'm butchering your name, and they say “I have no experience working as an interpreter, however, I've been working as a customer service lead and in collections, but I want a change. Is there any chance to apply for AMN Healthcare?” So, customer service is a really good background for this profession, and we definitely like anyone who comes with a strong customer service background. That being said, you need very strong linguistic skills in both languages, and that's something that we would test for as we put you through the interview process, but certainly go ahead and apply. I didn't get a language there, so I'm not sure what language it is we might or might not be hiring, but certainly apply. We do have training potentially for someone with a strong customer service background and very strong linguistic skills in both languages.
Now, Jillian I wanted you to explain to the group a little bit, what would the advice be for somebody who comes from in-person or VRS who has never worked in a remote environment. What kind of advice would you have for that person?
Jillian S.: I think the first thing is to be just be open-minded to see how the process goes because I think there's a lot of resistance if you've only been an in-person interpreter and let it reveal itself to you that this can be extremely successful and extremely beneficial and effective.
You do need to ask for a lot more clarification in this setting because we can't see everyone who's in the room and we don't know what the background. Sometimes we're called in in the middle of a session, and we don't have a lot of background, so just to be able to be assertive enough to ask those questions of what type of office are we in? And who else is in the room with us? And can you give me a little bit more about what we're discussing? All of that is just extremely, you have to get comfortable with that to really make sure you can advocate for yourself to get what you need that kind of just came second nature when you worked in-person.
Kristen B.:. Yes, definitely, okay that's good. And then Rebeca, kind of in the same vein, but what advice would you give to someone who's just starting out, maybe just considering interpretation as a career like some of the comments we have here in the chat?
Rebeca R.: I would say just take it slow. Take it day by day because you start building up on the knowledge. There's days like now, for example, I don't know like five or six different ways of calling a bottle to feed a baby in Spanish, you know.
So, at the beginning, when I just used my Costa Rican one, some people wouldn't understand me, and then when people do not understand what I'm saying, I just start trying out words to see which one is the right for them so they can understand what I'm saying.
So, I think, just take it on from day to day, and start building up on your experience. Take notes of the words that are difficult for you build up, your like terminology list. There are words that, even for me now after six years, I would forget how they're like interpreted, so I have a list of words that are generally difficult for me. So build up on your own resources and keep feeding them so every day you grow as an interpreter because every day it's different. Even sometimes if it's kind of a routine, you learn new words. So, that's my advice, build up on the skills that you have and keep going and keep building.
Kristen B:. Yes, absolutely, yeah, and we always say to anyone considering this medical interpreting as a profession that you know we can train you, but you do have to do a lot of self-study, and there's always changing terminology. You really do have to kind of stay on top of all that on your own, so it's a commitment inside the job, and then also outside the job. So, we're getting close to the end. I wanted to put out a last call for any questions anyone has, and then I wanted to you know a couple things.
So, anyone who's looking to apply with us. One thing that we have kind of seen out on social media is people saying that you have to pay them, and they can get you in with AMN. Please just know that we don't ever affiliate, you don't have to pay to get in with us. So, anyone who's interested, you would go through the same channel that anyone else does, which is you apply. You go through an interview process, which is a little bit of a lengthy process, but we do have language assessments for our spoken language interpreters and then a final interview. So just putting that out there that if anyone offers a paid way in that we want to avoid that.
And so any final thoughts as we kind of wrap things up, Jillian? Anything you'd just like to kind of tell the audience in terms of choosing a remote environment and why AMN is the right one?
Jillian S.: Of course. There's a few other ways we stay connected throughout our shifts. Microsoft Teams has a bunch of channels, and one of the ones that we use to discuss without any protected health information, but maybe you had a struggle and you just didn't know what to do, you can put it out to the group in the channel and just say this is what kind of happened. Can I get some ideas some feedback? I need some tools for next time should something similar happen, and the nice thing is instead of it being one-on-one with a colleague, I can put it out there and have 150 people look at this and get responses from a huge number.
I'm always adding tools to my toolbox by tapping into the knowledge of my team. I don't think it matters how long you've been doing this job. There's always more skills you can gain. There's always something you can learn. On the flip side of that, there's also a coffee chat channel, which is basically kind of like water cooler talk and just random things people will post like, hey, I need some dinner ideas. So, it's just like passing someone as you're walking from one office to another and just little simple conversations, so I truly feel connected with this group, probably more so than I have with any of my other colleagues because there's such an opportunity to interact with them in between calls. And I know when I need someone to support me in a call, maybe just talking with someone, if I know they're available, I'll jump on to the ‘Add an interpreter’ part of our platform and get that interpreter, and we just make it work. So the support, the social aspect, I feel very fortunate. I picked the right company!
Kristen B: Yes, good, yeah, isn't it amazing how even remotely you can feel so connected via Teams. You know Microsoft Teams is how we all communicate, and we'll send gifts and just yeah it really is amazing. So, Rebeca, any final thoughts from you before we wrap it up?
Rebeca R.: Yeah, I just wanted to say that I really like the fact that we can team up with other interpreters as well because I did have an instance in which I needed an ASL interpreter, and we worked together throughout the call - me interpreting for the mama, the ASL interpreter for the patient. And afterwards, we didn't talk about this, but we sent a commendation to each other like we spoke to our manager saying this ASL interpreter was amazing. I had the chance to work with her, and she did the same for me. And we have a team building channel in which we get all the commendations and we support each other and clap for each other. And being able to work with other interpreters, which I didn't have the chance to before, and being able to commend our work, it's something that also keeps us connected, and we can be proud of each other while not maybe even being close together. I think that's a very nice experience.
Closing Thoughts and Encouragement for Aspiring Remote Medical Interpreters
Kristen B.: Excellent! Thank you so much for that. So, we did get one more question. Nora says, “I took an 80 hour interpreter course. Do I have to take another training with AMN?” So, that's great. 80 hours is phenomenal. We accept a 40-hour training. It’s kind of the gold standard. Bridging the Gap offers that, so if you have an 80 hour interpreting training course, no we would not make you retest. Now unless you have a National certification, we will have you do an assessment because we do want to test your language proficiency, but we will not make you do another training unless at some point in the interview process sometimes we feel that candidates might actually want a little bit more training and then we'll give that option.
So, if we don't have any other questions, I think we will go ahead and wrap it up. So, just want to let the audience know again um you know we're always hiring. Our hot languages right now are of course Spanish, ASL, Vietnamese Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean. So, if you don't see the language that you speak on our website, there's a chance that in the future we could open up some positions so just check back. But in the meantime, thank you so much Rebeca and Jillian. Loved hearing your stories and your insight. Thank you so much, Trenton and Audrey, behind the scenes just killing it interpreting for our audience. So, thank you all. We'll see you in probably two months for another live show.
