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International Medical Interpreters Association to Collaborate with Language Line® University

on National Certification for Medical Interpreters

Nation’s Only Two Patent-Pending Programs to Certify Medical Interpreters

Coalesce and Launch Single National Medical Interpreter Certification

MONTEREY, CA – (January 21, 2009) – Language Line® University, the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, and the International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA), the oldest and largest medical interpreter association in the world, announced today a formal collaboration to launch a joint national Certification for Medical Interpreters (CMI) by combining the resources and expertise of the only two U.S.-based organizations to have existing, formalized and patent-pending certification programs.

“Individually, both IMIA and Language Line University have contributed significantly to the national movement for medical interpreter certification,” says Izabel Arocha, President of the International Medical Interpreters Association. “Together we are poised to finally achieve what the industry has long wanted and needed – a national certification that will standardize the quality of language services and overall care provided in our healthcare institutions.

“The advent of a nationally recognized medical certification standard has been at the heart of every initiative Language Line University and IMIA have taken on since both organizations were founded,” added Language Line Services President and COO Louis Provenzano. “We are extremely proud to be collaborating with IMIA to create a public/private collaboration and bring together the collective expertise we have amassed in our 20 plus years working towards this shared goal.”

In a related move to push national certification forward, last month Language Line University established a partnership with PSI Services LLC, an industry-leading provider of professional testing services, to expand upon Language Line University’s current medical interpreter certification skills assessment test. “We want to not only meet the need for a national certification, but we also want to make it convenient and accessible to interpreters everywhere”, said Provenzano. “This partnership will make it available in more than 800 of PSI’s nationwide testing centers across the nation”.

This National Certification of Medical Interpreters program will consist of a single “certification process” that will recognize individuals as “certified medical interpreters” (CMI) in a specific language after they have successfully passed the prerequisites and the written exam developed by IMIA and the skills testing process developed and implemented by Language Line University and PSI in that respective language. IMIA’s written exam will focus on the knowledge areas such as medical terminology, professional ethics/professional conduct, while the Language Line University/PSI skills assessment test will verify an applicant’s ability to apply this expertise in real-life medical interpreting scenarios.

At the onset, the skills assessment portion of the certification will incorporate tests in the 22 languages that Language Line University has developed. However, testing and certification is expected to be available in more than 30 languages over the course of the next year, with new languages added regularly. To ensure continued growth of the national certification program and give consideration to minority languages (also known as languages of lesser diffusion), IMIA and Language Line University are inviting national testing organizations to join this effort in a parallel qualification process for those interpreters. The program also incorporates expansion of the certified medical interpreter process internationally.

“As a 32-year veteran of the interpreting profession, it deeply concerns me that even with the crucial role medical interpreters play in the diagnosis and treatment process, we still remain the only healthcare professionals without a nationally recognized certification,” said Linda Joyce, Spanish/English Certified Medical Interpreter (CMI). “I commend Language Line University and IMIA on their inclusive approach and unwavering resolve to create a national certification program despite the ongoing challenges.”

"As a professionally trained interpreter, I am very interested in the establishment of a national certification process, long overdue, that assures that all language interpreters across the nation are performing their professional work under the same set of quality standards to ensure safe, high-quality patient care for culturally diverse patients in need of language access” said Anita Coelho Diabate, a medical and mental health Portuguese interpreter at Cambridge Health Alliance.

“This landmark effort toward national certification by Language Line University and IMIA has far-reaching implications for the limited English proficient patients that rely on our nation’s healthcare institutions,” added Catherine Ingold, Director of the National Foreign Language Center. “We cannot underestimate the ultimate value of improving the quality of medical interpreting services in the pursuit of quality healthcare.”

For more information about the national medical interpreter program developed by Language Line University and IMIA please contact Janette Anders at janders@ or visit .

About IMIA

The International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA) is committed to the advancement of professional medical interpreters as the best practice for equitable language access to health care for linguistically diverse patients worldwide. Founded in 1986, it is comprised of over 1,600 members, and is the oldest and largest medical interpreter association in the world. While representing medical interpreters as the ultimate experts in the medical interpreting field, associate membership to the IMIA is open to multidisciplinary groups interested in medical interpreting and language access in health care, an international human right. IMIA () has divisions of providers, corporate members, trainers and interpreters in over 100 languages.

About PSI

PSI has over 60 years of experience providing solutions to corporations, professional associations and government regulatory agencies. PSI offers a comprehensive solutions approach from test development to delivery to results processing, including pre-hire employment selection, managerial assessments, licensing and certification tests, license Management services and professional services. More information is available at .

About Language Line® University

Language Line® University is the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, the leading provider of language-based services and solutions. Language Line University provides interpreter training, as well as an externally validated test in 170 languages, and Certification of Medical Interpreters (CMI), currently available in 22 languages. It also offers Court Certification in 15 languages. Language Line University’s testing; training and certification have proved to be valuable, credible and dependable tools used by healthcare organizations and interpreters nationwide and in Canada to ensure that the language access services they provide to their patients and community are of the highest quality. For more information, visit llu, email LLU@, or call 1-877-351-6636.

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