The Mount Sinai journal of medicine, New York
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Family members used as patients' interpreters are a common occurrence in the medical environments of multicultural societies. It is recognized that the use of the family-member interpreter may have some benefits. ⋯ While numerous studies have been done on the challenges in the doctor-interpreter-patient medical encounter, these studies tend to focus on the experiences of the physicians or the patients, and the perspective of the interpreter is often sidelined. After discussing the various interpreting options, we suggest that the perspective of the family-member interpreter strengthens assertions that professional interpretation is the best option for multilingual medical environments.