The experience of going to an interpreter conference is very exciting. From the moment one begins to look at the venue where the conference will take place, checking the agenda, as well as knowing that you will be visiting with your interpreter friends from other states or countries and leaders in language access services. It is all very exciting!
I remember the first time I decided to go to a national conference. I was scared. I didn’t know anyone. I wasn’t sure about the rhythm of things. Even though I had taken a quick look at the agenda, it was difficult for me to decide which presentation I would go to, because many times the topics are all interesting or there are new topics being presented in the same block of time. In the end, it is so fun to decide, and the rush to get there in time to get a good seat… Then, you’re all ears, ready with pen and paper to take notes on the most important points. I even like to take pictures of the presenters’ information, and I like to thank them for their efforts and contribution to our young profession. To top it all off I earn my CEUs in one place, to maintain my certification.
This time I went to the CHIA ‘s conference. It was held on March 24th and 25th of this year (2023). The venue was in San Diego, California. Even though California had a lot of rain the days before the conference, we were so blessed we had a blue sky and sunny days with green, blooming fields.
Utah was the 25th state that had been and joined at a CHIA conference. “Welcome Utah ”, said CHIA’s president during the open ceremony. The conference had a diverse group of interpreters, Spanish, Arabic, ASL, Mandarin and many other languages, as well as some providers that are learning and there to help support and establish programs for our profession.
CHIA’s organizers used a new system to check attendance, a scanner. It was easy and organized, I didn’t have to worry about my CEUs recording! Great job organizers!
The first day, we had workshops of two hours. I went to “No fué el chupapanza el que me dio diarrea”, presented by Alvaro Vergara-Mery. We had group activities that were fun but at the same time very informative about the remedies and other cultural beliefs in health care that our patients share with their providers and of course what the interpreter may encounter on any day! On Saturday we had the Poster Presentation. (See them below).
Healthcare Interpreter Attitudes and Solutions for Gender Neutral. Summary Results of a Nation-Wide CCHI survey. Presenter: Mateo Rutherford.
Healthcare Interpreters: A Current Snapshot of our Profession. Presenter: Natalya Mytareva.
We had several unique presentations. One of them was “Don’t get Burn!” by Jaime Russell. We reviewed and learned terminology about burns and different treatments for burns, like the spaghetti device, allograft, Xenograft, sheet graft, and many more. We also heard from Katherine Allen, a Spanish interpreter and great leader in our profession talking about VRI, the name of her presentations was “Finally, There Is a Comprehensive Textbook and Training Guide for Remote Interpreters!” and the second session was “Healthcare Interpreting Needs an Updated Approach to Remote Interpreting.”
Hopefully in the next conferences, a group of interpreters from Utah can join a conference to join forces and make our profession a better one. It’s awesome to learn about the changes and new approaches, to grow, and have fun together, while we are learning to comply with our code of ethics and professional development. Besides that, we all need a refresher, even if we have been interpreting for decades. What better way than learning and sharing our experiences together at a conference for interpreters by interpreters. It is a beautiful thing to see providers fight for language access for our communities that speak other languages other than English at home.
Hopefully you will be going to an interpreting conference soon!
Ingrid Oseguera, Sp-CMI, Community Interpreter Trainer, Trainer of interpretingacademy.com
Member of UTIA, ATA, CHIA, NAJIT