In its new issue, the trade magazine Healthcare Marketing publishes an article on the current state of medical translation in view of the far-reaching changes resulting from digitalisation and artificial intelligence and in view of increasingly complex and diverse communications. The article includes an interview with Andrea Modersohn, director of oneword. We share the essentials.
"Especially in medicine and medical technology, precise and unambiguous communication with all stakeholders is indispensable and represents a major challenge for global players. Making medical information available in all languages is a highly sensitive task. Within medical translation as a translation discipline, international brand communication and the dissemination of comprehensive information material also play an important role," writes Healthcare Marketing (only available in German) in the introduction to the article. The demand for specialised translations for the health, pharmaceutical and medical technology industries is unwavering and varied. The reason for this, according to the specialist magazine, is that content to be translated has to take three factors into account: legal and regulatory developments in different markets, changing consumer expectations and constant innovation.
Then it gives a coherent diagnosis: "The market of language services for medical-pharmaceutical translations is complex, especially in times of digitalisation, when texts can supposedly be transferred into several languages easily, in just a few clicks or by asking artificial intelligence to do it." Digitalisation has long since changed the translation industry, the trade magazine continues. And this applies not only to the craft of translation as such, but also very significantly to the type and variety of content that medical translation specialists have to work on today. Therefore, digital content, such as website content, newsletters and social media posts, and even medical foreign language SEO, is increasingly joining the tasks required. The publication also mentions that translating communications in a way that is optimised to the target group is also linguistically challenging, for example when it comes to gender-conscious and inclusive language. Barrier-free communication for people with hearing or visual impairments is also becoming increasingly important.
For the article, Healthcare Marketing interviewed five translation service providers with relevant expertise and asked them questions "that are a hot topic, not only in the medical translation world". One of the experts interviewed is oneword founder and director Andrea Modersohn.
Andrea Modersohn in an interview: "Technical innovation is an absolute asset and not as a threat to our industry."
What do you think about the development of the medical translation market?
"Medical technology and life sciences are growing industries. This means that the need for professional and high-quality specialised translations is also increasing. In turn, this also brings us to machine translation: many companies are asking themselves whether the results are good enough for medical translation, which is a sensitive field."
How important is digitalisation in translation in general and specifically for you and your teams in your day-to-day work?
"Digitisation has been a key topic in the translation industry for a long time, with translation memory systems, process automation, and now machine translation and AI. We see technical innovation as an absolute asset and not as a threat to our industry and we are happy to provide support and progress in this area."
The proportion of digital content that is translated is growing continuously. What are the biggest pitfalls in translating website content, newsletters and social media posts, and how can they be avoided?
„Neben dem feinen Sprachgefühl zählt bei der Übersetzung von Werbetexten das kulturelle Wissen über die Zielländer. Botschaft und Wirkung des Textes sollen erhalten bleiben, der Text aber optimal an den Zielmarkt angepasst werden. Das betrifft neben Sprachkonventionen auch Bildmotive, Farben und Redewendungen et cetera.
Gleichzeitig entstehen immer mehr Daten in immer kürzerer Zeit, sodass Übersetzungen auch ein Zeit- und Kostenfaktor sind. Die Lösung liegt in professionellen Sprachdienstleistungen wie der Transkreation und dem Posteditieren maschineller Übersetzung.“
Website localisation also involves medical foreign-language SEO. To what extent do the target regions' cultural characteristics play a role in the translation process? For example, where are there significant differences in the relevance of keywords?
„Eine gute SEO-Übersetzung ist Voraussetzung für weltweite Sichtbarkeit – auch im Bereich der medizinischen Fachübersetzungen. Keywords können nicht einfach übersetzt werden, sondern müssen für jedes Zielland beziehungsweise jede Zielgruppe recherchiert und dann korrekt in den Übersetzungen verwendet werden.
Oft haben klassische SEO-Agenturen jedoch nur ein großes Know-how, was den Heimatmarkt betrifft, weshalb internationales SEO im besten Fall immer von muttersprachlichen SEO-Expert:innen geleistet wird.“
The hype around tools like ChatGPT is not dying down. Currently, it is perhaps the most exciting discussion going on in the industry: what are the opportunities and risks of using AI in medical translation? How great is the revolutionary potential of these types of technologies in the sector?
„Machine Translation oder MT ist schon seit 2016 ein großes Thema und mittlerweile fest etabliert. Bei medizinischen Übersetzungen ist die Hemmschwelle zum Einsatz höher, weil Fehler ein besonders hohes Risiko darstellen. Denn alle MT-Systeme machen aktuell noch Fehler, die teilweise aber sehr subtil sind. Machine Translation & Post-Editing, kurz MTPE, verbindet das Beste aus beiden Welten: die Schnelligkeit der Maschine mit dem Verstand des Menschen. Maschinelle Vorübersetzungen werden durch Posteditor:innen geprüft und korrigiert, sodass das Ergebnis bei geringeren Kosten und schnellerem Durchsatz dennoch einer Humanübersetzung gleicht. Wie bei ChatGPT gilt auch für MT: als Zusatztool absolut gewinnbringend, aber nur in Kombination mit menschlicher Prüfung.“
How important are gender-specific communications in your industry? How linguistically challenging is it to translate communications in a way that is optimised to the target group, in terms of using gender-conscious and inclusive language?
„Für die einen absolut notwendig, für andere ’sprachlicher Firlefanz’. Wir bei oneword gendern schon lange in all unseren Texten. In Fremdsprachen gibt es ja, genau wie im Deutschen auch, wenig bis gar keine Vorgaben oder Standards. Im Grunde ist es also eine individuelle Entscheidung pro Unternehmen.“
The interview was published as part of the article "Medical Translation: The World Between Languages", which appeared in Healthcare Marketing Print Issue 4/2023. The issue is available by subscription or as a single order from the publisher.
Do you need professional, secure and high-quality translations in medical or medical-technical communication? Then talk to us. Our medical translation experts will be happy to advise you on the processes and options available.
