Teaming in Translation: training interpreting, medical, and midwifery students in simulated birth settings

This paper reports on the TeamTra – Teaming in Translation project, conceived in response to calls for improved training of both professional interpreters and healthcare providers. TeamTra is a cooperation among the Medical Faculty, the University Hospital, the Institute for Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies (IALT), and the Oriental Institute (OIL) at Leipzig University. The program is aimed at medical, midwifery, and interpreting students and draws upon interprofessional and simulation education models to provide students with a hands-on experience for different professions using simulated patient-physician/midwife encounters in maternal health. Special attention is devoted to cultural differences, varying degrees of health literacy and challenges of triadic communication. The course was carried out for approximately 80 students in the 2022/2023 winter semester and in the 2023 summer semester. This paper reports on the first year of the project, which included a pre-kick-off survey, a satisfaction survey, and feedback sessions.