Gov't to provide certified medical interpreters for foreign patients

SEOUL, Dec. 11 (Yonhap) -- The government will provide local hospitals with
certified medical interpreters for the first time ever to meet the needs of
foreign patients, officials said Friday.
The Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said it will hold a
certification ceremony Saturday for the first group of official medical
interpreters to complete a health care interpreter training program organized by
the ministry's Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare.

A total of 61 interpreters including 22 medical personnel and 26 expert
translators will be certified as official medical interpreters for English,
Chinese, Japanese, Russian or Arabic during the ceremony, it said.
The institute will continue to train medical interpreters to meet the needs of a
growing number of foreign residents in South Korea and to attract patients from
abroad.
jia@yna.co.kr
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