The tenor of consultant physicians: implications for medical interpreting

AbstractMedical interpreting, like many other kinds of community interpreting, needs to have conveyed not only the content of what speakers say but the way they say it. This paper outlines a model, derived from empirical research, of the discourse structure of the interpreted medical consultation. The generic structure of interpreted physicians’ consultations with non-English speaking patients shows eleven stages, the climax being the exposition. It is at this stage that the physician announces his/her findings of the diagnoses and sets up a plan of action for the patient. The extent to which the patient complies with the plan of action (e.g. change of medication) does not depend just on the fact that an interpreter interpreted the consultation, but substantially on the rapport and impact that the physician had on the patient. So conveying accurately the interpersonal elements of what the physician and patient say to each other is crucial. A theoretical framework for analyzing the interpersonal metafuncti...