Medical interpreters to bridge doctors, foreign patients in Korea

The Korean government has started a program to train medical interpreters to help hospitals avoid language barriers when providing services to foreign patients. The Korea Human Resource Development Institute, a subordinate of the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs, selected 65 trainees for its 200-hour program to develop medical interpreters in English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, and Arabic. The KHRDI expects the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion, which includes 30 hospitals nationwide, to recruit the interpreters.