News Seton Associates Graduate from Medical Interpreting Training Program

Austin, Texas - (July 21, 2008) - Dell Children's is proud to announce the graduation of the very first group of Spanish Bilingual Assistants in Austin.

The Spanish Bilingual Assistant (SBA): Introduction to Medical Interpreting is a sixty-hour course designed to train bilingual health care workers to assist medical professionals in communicating with their Spanish-speaking patients and their families. The course is offered to all Seton Associates, and in the near future it will allow Seton to have trained personnel in all of its facilities.

"This program is for individuals who speak both the English and Spanish language, but need to develop appropriate skills and techniques of interpretation, utilization of medical terminology, and demonstration of knowledge of basic anatomy and physiology," said Leonard Sepeda, SBA instructor and senior interpreter/translator, Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas.

The program was made possible by Dell Children's in cooperation with Phoenix Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald World Charities through the National Medical Interpreter Project for Children's Hospitals.

The nine-week course is very intense and covers:

• Anatomy
• Common diseases
• Physiology
• Medical procedures

"The course also covers the interpreter's role, legal issues, advanced directives, bereavement and the Hispanic culture," added Sepeda.

Nurses, clinical assistants and call center representatives are among the first 15 graduates.

"I had the opportunity to sit in on several of the SBA classes," said Geronimo Rodriguez, vice-president, Diversity and Community Outreach, Seton Family of Hospitals. "The coursework is intense. Acquiring skills to address patient needs to effectively communicate across cultures is a clear example of living our mission to treat every person with dignity and respect. Dell Children's has created a skills training program that will serve our Seton Family of Hospitals associates as well as the community we serve for years to come."

The second SBA: Introduction to Medical Interpreting class is scheduled for September and a third class in January. The class is free for Seton associates with a $35 registration fee. The cost is $450 for non-Seton associates. Fee includes the manual and all related material.

For more information about the SBA program contact Leonard Sepeda at lsepeda@seton.org or Cynthia Rubio at cmrubio@seton.org.