Over the Tipping Point: Using the Diagnostic Discourse of Standardized Patients to Educate Medical Interpreters

ABSTRACT Rather than amassing 10,000 hours of practice before mastery is achieved - Ericsson’s famed tipping point - medical interpreters can gain considerable, concomitant experience by analyzing videos of provider-patient interactions, even when the pair speak the same language. Teaching hospitals commonly film such interactions using standardized patients (SPs). Such films have been effectively used in classroom-based instruction with interpreters. The novel use of SP films in an on-line learning environment is described herein, where discussion boards and worksheets supplanted traditional instruction methods. In this problem-based learning (PBL) approach, typical of medical education, graduate-level medical interpreting students became familiar with common diagnostic and treatment discourse. Students reported that this familiarity helped free their cognitive resources for planning and monitoring translations and other decisions on-the-job. The learning materials and methods used in this on-line approach are detailed. The value of the PBL context is described in relation to healthcare interpreting education approaches generally.摘要 不同于埃里克森提出的著名临界值理论——即掌握技能需积累一万小时练习——医学口译员无需积累海量练习时长，即可通过分析医患互动视频获得可观的伴随式经验，即便医患双方使用同一种语言。教学医院通常会借助标准化患者（Standardized Patients, SPs）录制这类互动场景，此类影片此前已成功应用于口译员的课堂教学中。本文介绍了将标准化患者影片应用于在线学习环境的创新方案，该方案以讨论板和学习手册取代了传统教学方式。作为医学教育的典型模式，基于问题的学习（Problem-Based Learning, PBL）可让研究生层次的医学口译学生熟悉常见的诊疗会话。学生反馈称，这种熟悉度有助于释放认知资源，以便在工作中规划、监控口译流程及做出其他决策。本文详细阐述了该在线教学方案所使用的学习材料与教学方法，并结合通用的医疗口译教育模式，探讨了基于问题的学习场景的应用价值。