JCC to offer Spanish interpreting for medical community

This August, Johnston Community College will launch a certificate and degree program in Spanish interpreting in the medical community.

Dr. Jennifer Servi-Roberts, instructor in JCC’s Spanish-interpreting program, said the program will allow persons interested in Spanish-interpreting careers to specialize in the medical setting.

“This new certificate and degree option helps students interested in medical interpreting focus on the skills they need to be medical interpreters while giving them the strong skills of what an interpreter should be and do,” Servi-Roberts said. “Under the degree option, students will have the choice to take electives that specialize in vocabulary and situations they will see as medical interpreters.”

The certificate program is open to bilingual students who have met one of three prerequisites: completion of the community Spanish interpreter certificate at JCC; completion with a C or better of Spanish 212; or CLEP credit through Spanish 212.

The certificate is 17 credits and can be completed in two semesters if students meet the prerequisites.

The degree option is 70 hours and includes interpreting coursework plus medical-interpreting courses.

Both the certificate and degree options include 160 hours of service learning to give students practical experience in clinics, doctor’s offices and hospitals.

JCC will offer courses for the certificate and degree in both traditional and online formats.

For more information about the new program, call Servi-Roberts at 919-209-2197 or email her at jlserviroberts@johnstoncc.edu.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 2:58 PM with the headline "JCC to offer Spanish interpreting for medical community."