Specialising in public health (non-medical/scientific)? Thread poster: Molly A (X)
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Molly A (X)
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
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Hello!
I wonder if anyone might have some insight they could share.
I've had a few false starts as a freelance translator but am thinking of giving it a proper go again. I would feel more confident if I had a specialism, however.
My background is in languages and library science, including working in a public health library service. This is a field that interests me greatly and through work and my own personal interest, I have decent knowledge/understandin... See more Hello!
I wonder if anyone might have some insight they could share.
I've had a few false starts as a freelance translator but am thinking of giving it a proper go again. I would feel more confident if I had a specialism, however.
My background is in languages and library science, including working in a public health library service. This is a field that interests me greatly and through work and my own personal interest, I have decent knowledge/understanding of the more sociological aspects of public health (covering broad and interlinked areas) with above average knowledge of at least one particular area. I suppose sociology and psychology are also of interest to me too and I'd consider further study in these fields.
I'm wondering if anyone can tell me if there is a decent need out there for Spanish/Portuguese-English translations in public health topics that aren't purely medical/scientific in nature? I'm thinking policy, reports, guidance, evaluations, strategies, maybe web content etc (I don't think I would be capable of translating something technical like research on transmissibility of Covid even though I deal at surface level with this type of literature at work...!)
Any insight much appreciated! Thanks in advance. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Adieu 
Ukrainian to English
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| What you're talking about | Aug 6, 2021 |
Is basically marketing, advertising, or PR.
There might be a niche for it for websites of Spanish/Portuguese-language universities, pharma companies, etc.
Really, though, at that point you might try dropping the T-word entirely and applying to jobs with titles like Communication Something-or-other (Director, Manager, Specialist etc.) at relevant institutions.
[Edited at 2021-08-06 22:50 GMT]
[Edited at 2021-08-06 22:51 GMT]
| | | | Molly A (X)
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Could you explain your point further please?
How would translating, say, a report on the social determinants of health inequalities in Spain be considered marketing/PR?
| | | | | Knowledge of public health administration | Aug 7, 2021 |
This is not marketing, adverstising or PR. It's soemthing different.
Having done clinical internships in the public health sector in France, I confirm that this is a specific field. Being familiar with how the sector is organised, financed, run and having an understanding of how the various services work together, there is no doubt that this is a field. Whether there is sufficient work in that field in your language pairs for you to make a living from it, is another matter. However,... See more This is not marketing, adverstising or PR. It's soemthing different.
Having done clinical internships in the public health sector in France, I confirm that this is a specific field. Being familiar with how the sector is organised, financed, run and having an understanding of how the various services work together, there is no doubt that this is a field. Whether there is sufficient work in that field in your language pairs for you to make a living from it, is another matter. However, there are allied fields. There are elements in private sector care that would also make sense for you to consider as a professional field also.
Agencies are likely to be contacted by big organisations for this type of work. So perhaps sign up with agencies and put this down as one of your major fields. In addition, track down research teams working in the field and contact them directly.
[Edited at 2021-08-07 13:52 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Shirley Lao
Taiwan
Local time: 10:39
Member (2007)
English to Chinese
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| Epidemiology, biostatistics and public health are interdependent | Aug 8, 2021 |
Public health is a multidisciplinary field that involves epidemiology, biostatistics, medicine, psychology, sociology, and some other social science areas. A basic understanding of biostatistics is essential for understanding public health reports and evaluating policies, even if you do not want to engage in the medical aspects of diseases and health but only on the social policy on public health.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 22:39
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
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| I worked with several public health agencies | Aug 8, 2021 |
Their documents are mostly related to public health but specialization in public health is not required to translate them. Most of the concepts are easily understood by anyone with a college degree. You may once in a while come across some terms in medicine, statistics and epidemiology, but most non-specialized translators could get these terms across correctly if they are willing to thoroughly search them on the internet.
[Edited at 2021-08-08 07:12 GMT]
| | | | Molly A (X)
United Kingdom
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Thanks all for your comments. I suspected that what jyuan_us says would probably be the case... Most translators probably wouldn't need much prior knowledge to work with the types of texts I'd mentioned.
It's quite frustrating having years of experience in another field (librarianship) that doesn't lend itself well to a translation subject specialism. Probably not much demand for library & info science translation!
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