Glossaries and Your Translation and Localization Projects

Have you considered how many different meanings your healthcare organization’s specific terminology, medical procedure names or healthcare policies could potentially have when your material is translated or localized? Translation and localization of your healthcare organization’s material requires a translation team to decide on the definition of a variety of phrases or terms that communicate your message most effectively to a target audience. Creating a glossary for industry-specific medical terms is essential when communicating in other languages and your Language Service Provider can help your team get started.

First, let’s define what is meant by a glossary. Glossaries can contain lists of medical product names, names of medical procedures or a list of terms specific to the healthcare industry. These lists are sometimes accompanied by their definitions in English or notes about how these terms are used in different types of documents. Next to the terms in the source language (in this case, English) are the same terms in another language (e.g. Spanish).

One of the main benefits of creating a glossary is the resulting consistent use of the same terms in every translation. Plus, translation teams are less likely to be confused by terms and to wonder which variation of a term’s meaning they should use. In a medical translation, when a team knows they should use a specific word in Vietnamese for “heart attack” every time it comes up in your documents, the resulting communication to patients across translations will be consistent and accurate.

Translation teams, consisting of a translator and proofreader, are often the experts who put together a glossary for a healthcare organization. Of course, it’s very helpful to have strong input from an in-house reviewer. These reviewers are usually bilingual experts in the healthcare industry who can help finalize the most accurate and appropriate terms to use. Reviewers associated with the medical field and your organization will also know which medical terms, and even terminology associated with healthcare insurance policy descriptions, for example, will project the intended message to immigrant populations.

Your organization and your translation agency should decide on a lead person to implement glossary changes and distribute new glossary revisions to translation teams and members of your team. This way there is one person responsible for final decisions about updates and team members can direct questions or requests to one resource person.

As for the format of your glossary, these are usually easiest to use when they’re in table or spreadsheet form so that the terms and definitions in both languages are alphabetized and side-by-side. It’s also an option to incorporate the glossary into your translation memory so that translators can use the memory and the glossary simultaneously. Your translation agency can recommend the option that will be most conducive to future use in translations.