Offered for Spanish and Chinese
January 6 – 30, 2025
Mondays-Thursdays from 6-9 pm ET over Zoom (synchronous)
The application for the 2025 IAP Medical Interpreting Course will open on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, and close on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Medical interpreters facilitate linguistically and culturally appropriate care between English-speaking healthcare providers and patients with limited English proficiency. This free, non-credit 4-week online IAP course will train multilingual MIT students, alumni, and affiliated community members in the core principles, standards of practice, ethics, and medical terminology of the profession.
Upon completion of the intensive 40-hour course, participants will be qualified to work or volunteer as interpreters in healthcare settings. The course fulfills the classroom training requirements for national certification interpreting exams.
Schedule and attendance
Classes meet 4 days/week, Mondays through Thursdays from 6-9 pm ET, synchronously over Zoom. Classes start on Monday, January 6, and finish on Thursday, January 30, 2025. No class on January 20 (MLK Day).
Attendance is mandatory and is required to earn a certificate of completion, which will qualify you to apply for national certification exams.
Students may miss only 1 class or up to 3 hours of class time, with prior permission from the instructor.
Fluency
You must be fluent (oral and written) in both English and either Spanish or Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese). Training will be a mix of lectures led by an instructor and practice sessions with language coaches.
Topics will include interpreter skills, anatomy & physiology, and the glossaries needed to prepare for the national medical interpreter certification exam.
Time commitment
In addition to 12 hours/week of online class time, students should expect to devote 2 to 3 hours/week outside of class to course materials.
Additional details and contact info
Offered by CAPD’s Prehealth Advising Office. Class taught and facilitated by UMass Chan Medical School. The Office of the Vice Chancellor has subsidized the $950 cost per participant to make the class free for the MIT community.
Enrollment limit: 30 participants. Preference given to MIT students and alumni. Application deadline: Wednesday, December 4, 2024.
Email prehealth@mit.edu with any questions.