“COVID-19: cardiovascular disease”: glossary and translation of a Portuguese medical review article into English

• Autor(a) principal: Guimarães, Carlos Filipe Mendes
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/32023
• topic: COVID-19; Cardiovascular disease; Medical translation; Medical terminology; Shortened medical forms; Medical translators; Glossary; Medical review article

This project has two main goals, first being to simulate a real-world professional translation carried out during the thesis’s development, i.e., the first half of 2021; and secondly to answer the research question “Can non-medical specialists translate medical texts?”, by ascertaining as to who ideally should be carrying out medical translations: medical translators, or medical professionals? Leading translation scholars have revealed their findings and presented arguments to back up their claims and stance. For the practical part of the project, a translation of a Portuguese medical review article titled “COVID-19: Cardiovascular Disease” was carried out, in which renowned Portuguese virologists and cardiologists collated scientific information which sought to find out why COVID-19-infected patients with cardiovascular comorbidities have higher death rates. This particular theme was chosen as a way to contribute to the COVID-19 translation pool, as well as meet the current translation market’s demand. Despite not being a virologist or a cardiologist, I was still able to carry out this translation. I was also able to corroborate if this experience was in alignment or discordance with the viewpoint of translation scholars on who should be able to translate specialized medical texts. I was also able to explain how I was able to conduct the translation, in spite of not being a specialist in either of these specialized subject fields. Finally, I also discuss how this translation made me arrive at the conclusions that European Portuguese resources and tools are limited; how machine translation can be a helpful tool; and why the general idea that a translator, should ideally only translate into their native language, since it will be easier for them, does not always hold true.