Second-year medicine student Nooralhuda Alhashim recently shared her experience as a medical interpreter and Palestinian Arab.
Encouraged by Social Justice Pathway faculty Rachel Bracken, Ph.D., she was published in Drexel University's antibias newsletter: Journey.
In the reflection, titled "Interpretations," Alhashim shared the story of being assigned as interpreter for a Turkish patient, even though she speaks no Turkish.
"As a child, I was introduced to English and Arabic around the same time. I often mixed English verbs with Arabic nouns in the same sentence. Even my prefixes and harakaat [short vowels in the Arabic language] at times," she wrote. "What was a source of laughter in my childhood home foreshadowed this patient interaction. To get through the appointment, we both had to use a mixture of English, frequent nods, specific hand motions, and a sprinkle of Arabic vocabulary."
Read Interpretations.