ABOUT ME

While I was born and raised in Spain, I acquired English as a second language early in life. In addition to regular school in the national languages, I attended a few private English schools where teachers were native speakers and spent one semester living in Ireland.

As a kid, I was so fascinated by the Once Upon a Time... Life animated series about the human body for children that my parents bought me the matching book collection. I considered becoming a physician for some time, but it was a lifelong love for languages that prevailed.

Interestingly, I would end up finding a way to combine communication with medicine. That's how I became The Medical Communicator!

My career started in 2004 when a bank hired me to provide language services to individuals and companies. For the next 10+ years, I worked in customer service for banks and IT companies in Catalonia. That allowed me to take on financial and marketing translation projects, both in-house and independently.

In 2010, I graduated from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona with a licentiate in Translation and Interpreting. A licentiate is a type of degree that was phased out in Spain after the European Higher Education Area standards were implemented. According to Spain's Royal Decree 967/2014 of November 21, a licentiate is equivalent to a master's degree.

A few years later, I took my career to a new level after getting approved to reside in the United States. In 2016, I relocated from Barcelona to Chicago. That gave me the chance to sit and pass the American Translators Association (ATA) certification exam, which has a pass rate of less than 20%.

To retain my ATA-Certified English into Spanish Translator credential, I must complete 20 continuing education credits every three years. Continuing professional development is a must for me to excel and meet my clients' needs at all times. That's indeed what I love the most about my job — I'm always learning!

In 2018, I was nominated for Best Professional Translator's Website at that year's edition of the ProZ.com Community Choice Awards. A year later, my business was awarded Best Professional Language Services SME by Acquisition International Magazine. That same year, I moved from Chicago to Salt Lake City.

For many years, I defined myself as a generalist translator. My initial goal was to make it into the audiovisual field. That, however, changed after coming to the US in 2016 as I began collaborating in translation projects for clinics and hospitals. Later, I also started providing healthcare interpreting services for LEP Spanish-speaking patients.

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I used to think that medical translation and interpreting was out of my scope because of my lack of formal medical training. Fortunately, I learned that you don't have to attend medical school to become a medical communicator.

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Still, specializing in medical translation and interpreting requires more than episodic research and feedback. That's why I decided to start investing my continuing education credits in learning more about medicine and other life sciences.

In 2021, I completed these programs:

• Master's in Medical Translation — A 282-hour program instructed by AulaSIC

• Certificate Program for Spanish Interpreters — A 40-hour program instructed by the Medical Interpreting Training School (MITS)

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Diagnostic imaging is my favorite medical specialty. My training in this area includes education provided by the American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) and a certificate program by The University of Queensland on edX. Other areas of interest include biologics, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.

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Choosing medicine as my specialization allowed me to discover medical writing. To get started in that discipline, I completed the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Essential Skills Certificate Program. At present, I am learning regulatory writing with the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS).

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As a freelancer, I am open to collaborating with intermediate and end clients on projects as a medical translator or as a medical writer.