Short answer: what decides the quality of a medical translation is not language but command of medical terminology. Discharge summaries, test results, pathology reports and medication lists have their own rules, with abbreviations, Latin terms and units of measure. A wrongly converted unit or an unexpanded abbreviation leaves the receiving clinician looking at the wrong picture.
This article sets out what to know before sending medical records for translation.
Which documents get translated?
| Document | Content | Why it is requested |
|---|---|---|
| Discharge summary | Diagnosis, treatment given, course | Continuing treatment abroad, second opinion |
| Test results | Blood, urine, imaging reports | Confirming a diagnosis |
| Pathology report | Tissue examination findings | Oncological treatment planning |
| Operation note | The surgical procedure performed | Follow-up surgery, assessing complications |
| Medication list / prescription | Active ingredients and doses | Obtaining medication abroad |
| Medical board report | Disability rating, fitness for work | Visa, insurance, social entitlements |
| Vaccination card | Immunisation schedule | School enrolment, migration procedures |
| Birth report | Details of a birth | Civil registry procedures |
The register of the translation follows the purpose: a discharge summary going to a clinician and a report going to an insurer do not call for the same level of detail.
Abbreviations: the riskiest area
Medical records are dense with abbreviations, and the same abbreviation can mean different things in different contexts. "PA", for instance, can denote posteroanterior in a chest radiograph and something else entirely elsewhere.
The correct approach has three steps:
- Where the abbreviation can be determined from context, it is given with its established equivalent in the target language.
- Where it cannot, it is left in its original form with a translator's note.
- It is never expanded by guesswork.
The third point matters most. Expanding an abbreviation wrongly is far more dangerous than leaving it closed: the clinician reading a wrongly expanded abbreviation will not question it.
Units and reference ranges
Two traps hide in laboratory results.
Unit conversion. The same analyte is commonly reported in different units in different countries (mg/dL and mmol/L, for example). Units are not converted in translation; they are carried across as they stand. Conversion is for the clinician who knows the reference ranges.
Reference ranges. Laboratories differ in their reference ranges, and the meaning of a result depends on that range. The reference range column is therefore always translated too; carrying only the result leaves the figure without context.
Drug names are kept; active ingredients are stated
Brand names vary from country to country, and a medication sold under one name in Türkiye may not exist elsewhere. So in medication lists:
- The brand name is kept in its original form.
- The active ingredient is stated where available.
- Dose and frequency are carried across as they appear.
- No substitute is suggested for a brand name — that is a clinical decision, not a translation decision.
Sworn or standard translation?
It depends on where the document is going.
- To a clinician for a second opinion, a standard professional translation is usually enough; what matters is accuracy, not certification.
- To an insurer, a court or an official body, a sworn translation is required, often with notarisation.
- To a hospital abroad as part of an admission file, the hospital's own guidance decides; many require a sworn translation.
Telling us who will receive the document keeps you from paying for a layer of certification you do not need.
Handwriting and scan quality
Some medical records are still handwritten. An illegible word is marked as illegible in the translation, never invented. That note does not diminish the document; it is a mark of honesty. But where critical information cannot be read — a dose, a date, a diagnosis — a legible copy should be requested from the issuing institution.
When scanning:
- Keep the whole page in frame; do not crop the edges.
- Make sure measurement values in imaging reports are legible.
- Do not scan colour charts and tables in greyscale; colour can carry information.
- Preserve page order in multi-page reports.
Confidentiality
Health data is a special category of personal data. Documents you send for translation are used solely to perform the service, are not shared with third parties, and are not retained after the work is complete. This is not a preference but a requirement of professional confidentiality.
Before you send
- Who is the document for: a clinician, an insurer, an official body?
- Is a sworn translation required, or is a standard translation enough?
- Are the target language and destination country settled?
- Are all pages complete and legible?
- Does the patient name match the spelling in the passport?
- Do you have a previously translated report? (It helps with terminology consistency.)
Send us the document and tell us where it is going; we will establish together which type of translation is needed and how many pages the file runs to.