Interpreter and Translation Services

Equal to German-speaking patients, patients who do not speak German must be educated before undergoing treatment at the UKE, to make sure that they fully understand what will happen. There is a number of formalities which must be dealt with and the patient has to be prepared for treatment.

To make sure that also a foreign patient only signs documents, which content he understands, and that he is informed about what will happen to him, the UKE works with approx. 100 interpreters of all common and also of some rare languages – in total 52 spoken languages as well as a deaf-and-dumb language. Every non-German-speaking patient must be accompanied to all important appointments concerning his treatment by an UKE-interpreter.

If a patient is considered to be an international patient (see topic "International Patients"), the International Office will provide an interpreter who will assist him during the admission process or accompany the patient to his out-patient appointment. Afterwards, the clinic in charge may request an interpreter as necessary when important appointments within the framework of treatment are taking place.

All UKE-interpreters have received special training in order to be able to handle the specific demands and challenges of working in a medical environment. Therefore we cannot accept relatives or friends of patients to act as interpreters.

After finishing treatment, the clinic will send all medical reports to the International Office. We will translate the documents into English or Russian and pass them on to the patient for his own use.

The International Office also can provide you a contact to a translator who offers translating services (German-English) and proofreading of scientific papers etc.

For patients living in Germany and not speaking German but who are insured in Germany, clinics also can request interpreters.

In order for the International Office to allocate interpreters to specific jobs we need a lead time of at least 24 hours. Only in urgent cases we can accept requests on shorter notice.

For further information on the process regarding interpreting and translation issues please check our website www.uke-io.de (in Englisch, Russian and Arabic).