Hi, I'm Sarah P. Hamilton MD.

My philosophy

It’s impossible to make good medical decisions—on either the individual patient or the larger systemic healthcare levels—without accurate (and understandable) information. Thus, as long as both patients and healthcare systems bridge international borders, quality medical translation will continue to play an essential role.

Although linguistic software and artificial intelligence technology are valuable tools for all types of translation, there are good reasons why these tools alone have not yet achieved reliable results in translating clinical communications. Healthcare is a super-specialized field with an extensive and nuanced vocabulary (not to mention the challenges of acronyms and barely decipherable handwriting), and medical care itself is strongly flavored by the native culture and language of the individuals practicing and the environments in which they work. 

Thus, high quality medical translations require not only linguistic and communication skills, but also broad and specialized subject knowledge along with at least basic understanding of cross-cultural medical approaches to diagnosing and treating patients.

When choosing a translator for your medical documents, think closely about your needs for the final document. Some questions to consider:

1. Who is the reader of this document? Should the text be targeted towards practitioners with a high level of familiarity with medical jargon? Or for a layperson, with explanation of the concepts and common acronyms or abbreviations? 

2. How important is correct grammar, writing style, etc. to you? Are you using US or British English? Are there other important factors regarding writing quality?

3. Are there particular formatting guidelines you want to follow?

I know enough about enough medical specialties that I can recognize when my current level of understanding is not sufficient to translate appropriately without more research—and I’m not afraid to chase rabbit holes to find the necessary answers to correct a text.

The price for accurate translation may be more than you initially expected, but doing the work right will save money and hassle over the long run. It will improve medical care and in some cases, could save lives and protect from liability. I suggest doing the research to understand what you genuinely need and budget accordingly.

My Bio

I'm an American citizen and earned my Medical Doctorate (M.D.) from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and my Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from the University of Pennsylvania. I completed my medical and surgical training at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. I've lived in Germany and worked as a translator / editor / proofreader since 2003. 

I’m passionate about good communication and about understanding and bridging cultural divides in medical care and research.

In clinical reports and medical studies, it’s particularly important to use the most precise and accurate language possible. Unfortunately, many common terms and expressions used in practice are not available in printed or online dictionaries. In addition, it's difficult to capture the phrasing and tone of American medical files without exposure to them.

My hands-on experience within so many clinical (sub)specialties enables me not only to draw many terms from memory, but also to understand the material well enough to find the appropriate term from reading the clinical literature when necessary.

I wish you the best of luck in your search for an appropriate translator. Please feel free to get in touch.