Nonprofit Provides Intense Medical Interpreter Training to Immigrants

  • October 23, 2015
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  • Blog

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Numerous medical interpreter training programs exist, though few “unleash” trainees’ language skills into the workforce quite like Found in Translation (FIT) of Cambridge, MA. The four-year-old program boasts 120 graduates thus far, all immigrant women who previously found themselves lower than they’d hoped on the economic ladder despite their skills in needed languages such as Swahili, Haitian Creole, Arabic, and Mandarin. The program is highlighted in this Forbes.com article.

Graduates of FIT earn an exciting job placement rate as medical interpreters, evidence of the program’s successful selection process and training intensity. The program selects trainees based on both merit and motivation, focusing on their English language fluency and commitment to future success. Since the organization does not charge tuition to date, trainees must be inherently willing to throw their energies into the medical interpreter training. Most see their hard work as key to lifting their families out of poverty.

Begun by Russian-born social worker Maria Vertkin, the 14-week program includes 100 hours of training versus 40 hours at typical courses and provides support such as child care to facilitate attendance. Vertkin additionally highlights the program’s selectivity and social positivity to differentiate it from for-profit competitors.

As a fellow woman-owned business with a mission to help people, LSA applauds Vertkin and Found in Translation’s success.

Learn more about how LSA’s highly trained interpreters can help you communicate.