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‘We Are Interpreters, Not Translators’

Carolina_GomezBy Carolina Gomez

If you had asked me five years ago what I saw myself doing in 2012, I probably would have given you a variety of answers: playing cello for a symphony orchestra, teaching cello students privately, touring with a chamber group around the U.S. and the world. But I would never have imagined that I would end up working as a medical interpreter.

I was pursuing a career as a professional cellist, and on a typical fall afternoon in 2007, I was on my way to a rehearsal at a church in my neighborhood. I had just stepped inside the sacristy when I heard some commotion outside the door. An elderly Hispanic woman had just collapsed onto the steps, apparently as a result of a massive heart attack, and her husband was frantically pleading for help.

While the church staff called 911, I stood there debating what I should do. Should I just sit and wait for help to come, or should I try to do something myself? I didn’t know CPR, which is clearly what she needed; I was afraid to intervene in any way for fear that it would make things worse. At the same time, I couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. I suddenly realized that they might need help communicating with the paramedics when they came. That’s it, I thought, I’ll use my Spanish to help them understand each other! So I put my cello down and went outside to wait with the husband and his ailing wife, ready to do whatever I could once the ambulance got there.

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Helping People Breathe

EmileeLamorena_Schweitzer25By Emilee Lamorena

On Feb. 17, 2010, while I was teaching high school science in the Bronx, my mother was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. I quickly left everything — my teaching fellowship, my master’s degree program and my friends — and returned to Chicago to be with my family and my mom.

I always knew I was going to work in health care, but I wasn’t sure which route or specialty I was really interested in. While I saw my mother suffering, I came to a very big realization: There is nothing in the world harder than watching someone you love struggle for a breath. It was the most helpless feeling to not be able to alleviate any of that hardship.

After caring for her through her illness (my mother passed away about 10 months after she was diagnosed), I knew that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people breathe and supporting their loved ones. In 2011, I entered the Master of Science in Respiratory Care Program at Rush, where my mother received wonderful care, so I could help people care for their heart and lungs.

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M1: An Interview With Rush CEO Larry Goodman, MD

First-year Rush Medical College student Joe Santamaria met up recently with Rush University Medical Center CEO Larry Goodman, MD, for a conversation in the Brennan Entry Pavilion. In the interview, Goodman reflects on his time in medical school and the career path to hospital leadership.

“I never would have thought I would be doing anything other than practicing my entire career,” he says.

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‘Love the Rush Nurses’

nursesweek5Rush nurses received an outpouring of praise when we posted this photo — along with a National Nurses Week greeting — on the Rush University Medical Center Facebook page earlier this week.

The photo garnered among the most likes and comments of any we’ve ever posted on Facebook, so we thought we’d share a sampling of the feedback:
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From the Archives: Nursing Through the Years

In celebration of National Nurses Week, we look back at photos from the Rush Archives from the nursing programs and hospitals that eventually became part of Rush University Medical Center.

Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing capping ceremony, 1956
Three nurses at work in the Presbyterian Hospital infant nursery around 1905. One nurse is bathing newborns, while two others prepare an incubator for a premature baby.
Presbyterian-St. Luke’s nursing students, 1966
Nurses from St. Luke’s Hospital Training School for Nurses take a cocoa break in 1900
St. Luke’s School of Nursing Students, Schweppe Memorial Entrance, 1948

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‘Lucky to Be an Interpreter’

IvanSalvadorBy Ivan Salvador

My story begins in 2008, when I was a quality assurance specialist working for a multinational finance corporation. I had held different positions for about seven years when all the downsizing due to the stagnant real estate market finally caught up with me. I had spent the last four years working in consumer finance, holding a good job which had one big problem: As good as this job was, with all the perks I had, it did not fulfill my needs on a professional level.

After being downsized, I turned to relatives for advice, in particular my sister who had mentioned that I might enjoy working as a medical interpreter. She had been an interpreter for a few years while she pursued her nursing degree. Given the difficult time I was having with finding a new job, I decided that the time to reinvent myself had arrived. Initially the thought of switching careers seemed very intimidating, but I was willing to give it a try.

So I signed up for the medical interpreting course and found it to be eye-opening. I soon realized that this job was completely different from anything I had done in the past. My previous jobs had me working in a cubicle with a computer and hardly any interaction with other people. In my new career, I would be working with all kinds of caregivers and patients in different types of settings. What I found most appealing was the fact that as an interpreter you get to help so many people who are unable to communicate because of their limited proficiency in the English language. Recalling my early days in the U.S., I was able to relate to this group of people: Not being able to communicate is something that is very frustrating and intimidating at the same time. I was very lucky in that I did not have to face situations like those of the patients I assist on a daily basis.

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‘Someone Is in My Corner’

Michael_Ryan

When Michael Ryan started his own software company, he was thrilled. But the joy of building his own start-up was tempered by his deteriorating health. He was shocked when his local physician diagnosed him with cirrhosis of the liver caused by hepatitis C acquired through a tainted blood transfusion. As his liver disease progressed to a point where his local doctors could not do anything more for him, they recommended that he seek treatment at Rush University Medical Center.

Michael was in the advanced stages of liver failure when he came to Rush. His only chance for survival was a liver transplant. As his health continued to decline, he was unable to work. He was in and out of the hospital for consultations, tests and procedures, and he suffered from mental confusion and memory lapses that can occur in the late stages of liver failure.

After receiving a liver transplant in 2005, he bounced back. Yet he faced an ocean of professional and financial debt. “The business was basically running on its own, and that led to a disaster by the time I got out of the hospital,” says Michael. “I had to shut down the business. With that, the insurance company dropped me because I didn’t have employees anymore.”

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