LANA Medical Interpreter Training

The 100-hour program enables bilingual individuals and working interpreters to become competent medical interpreters. The program supports national medical interpreting standards of practice and includes introduction to the health care system in the U.S., basic anatomy, medical terminology, interpreting exercises, and ethical case studies. Students have an opportunity to visit various health care facilities. Competency certificates are issued to students who complete the whole course and successfully pass the final competency exam.

Trainer:

Meryl TroopMeryl Troop is a nationally certified sign language interpreter who has been practicing in Maine for over 25 years. Ms. Troop currently works as staff interpreter and civil rights advocate at Maine Center on Deafness.  Prior to her work at the Maine Center on Deafenss, she worked as the State of Maine's Language Access and Deaf Services Coordinator.  Ms. Troop has taught several interpreting courses through LANA and serves on the LANA Advisory Board. She committed to extending her love of interpreting to spoken language interpreters with the goal of reducing barriers to services and full participation in all that life has to offer for those who are Limited English Proficient.

Fall 2010 Training Dates & Times: 

September 10 - December 10, 2010

Click here for the detailed schedule.

Spring 2011 Training Dates & Times:

January 7 - April 1, 2011

Location:

For parking information, click here.

  • United Way of Greater Portland, One Canal Plaza, Suite 300, Portland

Free parking is not available. For a list of parking garages, click here.

Come inside the Center to get the parking permit.

Training Pre-Requisites:

Students are expected to be fluent in the languages they plan to interpret before enrolling in this course.

To show oral proficiency in English, please submit proof of one of the following:

  • Bachelor, Masters, PhD, or any other degree from any U.S. or an English speaking country's institution of higher education
  • TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) score of 570+ on paper; 230+ on computer version; 90+ on iBT
  • ACTFL oral exam rating of "Advanced Mid " and above

To show oral proficiency in other language(s), please submit proof of one of the following:

  • Graduation from any high school in that language(s)
  • Bachelor, Masters, PhD, or any other degree from any institution of higher education in that language(s)
  • ACTFL oral exam rating of "Advanced Mid " and above

Upon reviewing the candidate's credentials, LANA reserves the right to require language proficiency testing of any candidate.

Candidates who have not met the above requirements will be scheduled to take the Language Testing International/ACTFL (American Council on Teaching Foreign Languages) oral exam. English, French, Russian, and Spanish speakers will be scheduled for the Oral Proficiency Interview by Computer (OPIc). Other language speakers will take the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI). The minimum acceptable rating to enroll in this training is "Advanced Mid ."

Training Fee:

$75 per language test; $350 for training, includes the cost of the textbook;

Limited number of scholarships is available for speakers of languages of less diffusion. Scholarships are not available for French, Russian, and Spanish speakers.

How To Register:

Please submit the Registration Form, a copy of your diploma(s) and $75 per language test to Dolgormaa Hersom at:

Language Access for New Americans (LANA)
United Way of Greater Portland
One Canal Plaza, Suite 300

P.O. Box 15200
Portland, ME 04112-5200

Phone: 207.874.1000 ext. 2311

Fax: 207.874.1007

E-mail: dhersom@unitedwaygp.org

Credit card payments can be made over the phone. Checks should be payable to LANA.

Once you submit the Registration Form with a copy of your diploma(s) and the payment for the language test(s), you will be contacted regarding scheduling the language test(s). Upon successful completion of the test, the training fee of $350 is due by by Friday, August 27.

Cancellation Policy:

Your payment is your commitment that you will take this training. If you register and are unable to attend, we must receive at least one-week notice since we have made a committment to our trainers. No refunds for cancellations will be made within a week prior to the class.

If you have any questions, please e-mail or call 207.874.1000 ext. 2311.