Medical translation
Medical Translation Services are an integral part of clinical trials. Clinical trials involve professional researchers from all parts of the world. Researchers use Certified Documents, specialized medical equipment, and new drugs for new clinical trials. Thus, most of the process takes place in the researchers’ native language.
To help the researchers collaborate with their foreign counterparts and reach a broader audience, Translation Agencies get involved in the process of clinical trials. The translation of clinical documents uses the basics of translation but involves the technical aspects of medical translation. Thus, you need to understand the importance of using a Professional Translation Company for clinical trials.
This informative piece leads you through the best practices for medical translation used in clinical trials. It also outlines the challenges faced by medical translators and reveals three tips to ensure a successful clinical trial translation.
Challenges of clinical trials translation
The clinical trial translation is a sensitive part of medical translation. Misinterpretations and wrong inferences will arise when there is a discrepancy in the original document and the quality of translation.
Hence, most researchers prefer to work with the original clinical documents to avoid these mishaps. This decision limits the use of the clinical document to researchers that can fluently understand the language used for the original text. Thus, researchers who cannot freely interpret the conclusion get lost in the process.
The only way to overcome these challenges is by working with professional translation service providers that understand the intricacies of medical translation. A translation agency that is abreast of the complicated terminologies used in clinical trials will effectively provide a quality translation of the original text without any compromise.
Three tips to ensure a successful clinical trial translation
To ensure a successful clinical trial translation, your choice of translation agency can utilize these tips to deliver quality translations.
The right translation strategy
Having in mind that the slightest communication error could ruin a clinical trial document, you must adapt the right translation strategy. The proper translation strategy used from the onset of a clinical translation process will ensure the success of the process.
The first step to a successful clinical translation process is to evaluate the strategy of your translation agency. It is not enough to hire an agency with bilingual staff; you must review their ability to translate complicated medical instructions without mistakes. The right strategy will effectively deal with complicated medical terminologies to ensure high accuracy across clinical trial documents like the trial agreements (CTAs) and consent forms (ICFs).
Also, it’s important to note that every clinical trial process is different and requires specific translation needs. Hence, your translation service provider must adopt as strategy the suits the clinical trial process for quality delivery.
Use one translation process
Another way of ensuring a successful clinical trial translation process is to work with a single agency. Working with one translation agency unifies the entire process. Thus, you only work with the same set of staff and use the same tools. Your translation agency uses a single translation memory system to store the translations comprehensively. A single translation unit speeds up the process and ensure consistency in the use of language.
The standard translation procedure requires just one review after the formal translation process. However, clinical trial translations require multiple revisions through different stages before the final output becomes ISOQOL/ ISPOR compliant as acceptable translation.
Pay attention to the review process
The review process is the most critical part of the clinical trial translation process. The review process takes a lot of time as they are review cycles to be completed by in-house translation agencies involved in the process. They could be delays that would set back the process by several days or even months. Thus, before the process is complete, it could take off weeks from the estimated turnaround time.
You can prevent this downtime by working with a professional translation agency that has the right clinical trial experience. Your choice of a translation service provider should be willing to work with the reviewers to ensure the output meets the desired translation standards. This will not only save time but will provide the necessary protocols for quality assurance and standard.
Bottom line
The growing number of clinical trials across the globe calls for the use of professional translation agencies to ensure quality output. The first step to a successful clinical trial translation project is by choosing an effective strategy.
The right strategy will save you time, cost and ensure the quality of work meets the standard requirements. Working with a translation service provider that has clinical trial expertise will ensure you enjoy a successful process. EC Innovations have over 22 years of clinical trial translation experience. We provide standard clinical and medical research translation services to medical research organizations, hospital systems, IRB and sponsors. EC Innovation offers comprehensive, consistent and accurate medical translation services that meet all local and regulatory standards across the globe.
