Meagan

A great job situation I can remember, was during a job Interview that I Interpreted. Everything went seamlessly, both consumer and client walked away happy. I will have to think more on my most horrible job situation, but I do know that with any Job situation that I walked out feeling horrible about, my wonderful mentors and colleagues were there to help me debrief, and work through what I needed to do next time, and to help me work through issues I faced. :)

Pat

I enjoy medical interpreting because of the diversity it offers and the opportunity to learn so much about the body during my preps. Several years ago, the local agency called with an assignment related to re-evaluation of medication. After the appt. started, it only took a few questions to the client to realize this was a mental health medication re-evaluation!! Following the rules I learned, I stopped the Q&A to alert the doctor I was NOT qualified for mental health interpreting! The doctor begged for me to continue just to confirm that the medication needed to be changed as the client tended to miss appointments. I was so very careful to voice exactly what was signed in answer to the signed questions and then we were done. After leaving I immediately contacted the agency to explain what happened. They were not told it was a mental health appt. and said I did the right thing. From then on, it was required for them to ask whether it is medical or mental health medical appointment. A wonderful experience: called to ER and Deaf client could not use fingers! It took a couple minutes, but then we were able to complete the triage with my changing the med-tech\'s every question into yes/no questions so the client could move either hand to answer yes and shake head for no. It took longer than expected but client, family members and staff were satisfied with the outcome. That felt good.