Medical Interpreter - Spanish/English - Full Time - On Site - DC

Children's National Medical Center; Glenarden (MD); On-site; USD 30,417 - 50,681; Full time

Job summary

Children's National Hospital seeks a Medical Interpreter to provide in-person, telephone, or video remote interpretation for patients, families and staff across multiple hospital locations in the Washington metropolitan area.

The role requires a Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience, 1 year interpreting in critical situations, and proven bilingual medical terminology skills. A 40-hour interpreter training and assessment are required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent years of experience (Required)
• 1 year experience as interpreter in critical situations (Required)
• Fluent bilingual skills in English and Spanish with medical terminology proficiency (Required)
• Pass Interpreter Skills Assessment or CNH equivalent (Required)
• 40-hour Medical Interpreter Training Certificate (Required)

Responsibilities

• Facilitate communication among patients, families, and staff
• Interpret accurately without omissions or additions
• Manage assignments independently with minimal supervision
• Maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries
• Demonstrate clear verbal and written communication in clinical settings
• Provide sight and document translations of patient-related materials

Skills

Bilingual Language Skills

Fluency in English and Spanish

Medical terminology

Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent years of experience

Job description

Kids Are Our Everything.

Department: 10035 Language Service

Pay Range: $22.08 - $36.79, Shift: Variable

The Medical Interpreter will provide language interpretation services to patients, families and staff in critical, acute, or chronic medical situations as needed. The Medical Interpreter will provide services in person, telephonically or via video remote to assist patients and families in their interactions throughout the hospital.

This position provides in-person interpretation services across multiple Children's National Hospital locations throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Assignments may include coverage at facilities in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Maryland, based on operational needs. Candidates must demonstrate flexibility and the ability to travel between sites to ensure consistent, high-quality language access services for patients and families.

What You'll Bring:

Minimum Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent years of experience. (Required)

Minimum Work Experience

1 year Experience as interpreter for individuals in critical situations. (Required)

Required Skills/Knowledge

• Bilingual Language Skills
• Fluency in English and Spanish
• Highly proficient in medical terminology

Required Licenses and Certifications

• Successfully pass the Interpreter Skills Assessment, or equivalent, provided by CNH.
• 40-hour Medical Interpreter Training Course Completion (must have proof of certificate from a reputable training institution). (Required)

Functional Accountabilities

Eliminates Language Barriers to Patient Care

• Facilitate communication among patients, families, and staff
• Interpret directly and accurately, without omissions, addition or interference with communication
• Manage assignments independently without close supervision
• Set limits appropriately; maintain professional boundaries as interpreter; maintain patient, family and staff rights to confidentiality privacy
• Maintain professional role and sensitivity during critical medical and/or psychosocial situations; respect all parties in their discussion and their individual roles
• Abide by Interpreter Code of Ethics
• Demonstrate accurate, clear, and timely verbal and written communication
• Provide sight translation of patient of patient care related documents
• Provide document translation of limited list of patient related materials

Promote Appropriate Utilization of Interpretation Services by Staff

• Educate staff in use of interpreter and available interpretation services
• Communicate with staff about staff needs and patient/family needs
• Work closely, interdepartmentally, provide recommendations by communicating information as requested and directed by medical provider/critical staff
• Partner with program staff to share best practices and to ensure cultural and linguistic requirements are met
• Advocate for patients/families with staff to facilitate continuity of care
• Provide sound recommendations to departmental leadership to ensure adequate services to non-English speaking patients and families

Contributes to a Well-Organize Program

• Help to ensure interpretation assignments are coordinated accurately, effectively and efficiently
• Maintain schedules and required logs/tracking system in order to track project progress and productivity
• Keeping and organizing interpretation requests and reports
• Accurately document interpretation assignments in all systems and databases used and required by the program
• Facilitate the distribution, coordination, and assignment of day-today activities among fellow division staff and under the guidance of the division leadership
• The individual in this role may assume additional job duties beyond those outlined in this job description

Why Join Us:

• Nationally Recognized Excellence - Consistently ranked among the Top 10 Children's Hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
• Leading Pediatric Care - One of the largest and most comprehensive children's hospitals in the country, offering nationally ranked specialties and cutting-edge treatments.
• Innovation & Research - A premier academic medical center with a strong commitment to pediatric research, education, and advancing the future of child health.
• Mission-Driven Culture - Dedicated to providing family-centered care while fostering a collaborative, supportive environment for clinical teams.

The disclosed salary range includes the minimum and maximum rates within which Children's National believes an individual's base pay rate will fall for this position. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the maximum of the pay range. The exact pay rate for this position will be based on a variety of factors in alignment with the Children's National compensation philosophy. These factors are legitimate and non-discriminatory including, but not limited to, the current market conditions; organizational needs; the individual's combination of prior work experience, level of education, knowledge, skills, and other qualifications. Children's National is committed to providing a fair and competitive total rewards package to each of our employees. This base salary range does not include our comprehensive benefits package or any additional compensation for which this position may be eligible.

Childrens National Hospital is an equal opportunity employer that evaluates qualified applicants without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital status, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, identity, or other characteristics protected by law. The "Know Your Rights" poster is available here: and the pay transparency policy is available here:Know Your RightsPay Transparency Nondiscrimination Poster.

Please note that it is the policy of Children's National Hospital to ensure a "drug-free" work environment: a workplace free from the illegal use, possession or distribution of controlled substances (as defined in the Controlled Substances Act), or the misuse of legal substances, by all staff (management, employees and contractors). Though recreational and medical marijuana are now legal in the District of Columbia, Children's National and its affiliates maintain the right, in accordance with our policy, to enforce a drug-free workplace, including prohibiting recreational or prescribed marijuana.