Found in Translation

The Bold and the Beautiful
Men and women will go to great lengths to look good. That’s why tourists
from all over the world seek low-cost options for their tummy tucks, breast
augmentations, nose reshaping procedures, and, of course, “Brazilian butt
lifts,” the newly popular enhancement of the gluteus maximus first popularized
in Giselle Bündchen’s homeland. Medical tourism is a thriving industry, with
many Americans and Europeans flocking to other countries for a diverse array
of beautifying cosmetic procedures.
From the minute a would-be medical tourist types the words cheap nose job
overseas into a search engine, translation is already hard at work behind the
scenes. The results that appear—in any language—depend greatly on the

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medical facility’s online marketing. To ensure that people with fat wallets (and
bodies) can find them, these businesses make sure that their websites are
packed with common search terms and phrases in all the major languages.
A website’s ability to reach potential customers may vary significantly from
one language to the next, and even from one country to another. A British
resident searching for liposuction options overseas will quickly be routed to a
site in the Czech Republic. An Australian looking for a breast augmentation
will likely arrive at a web property based in Thailand. People in North
America in need of a tummy tuck will find medical facilities in Poland
appearing on their screen. Once users get to a website, they start reading
testimonials, learning more about the facility, and inquiring about the costs.
However, all that web content first had to be translated from Czech, Thai,
Polish, and so on into languages with large customer bases, such as English
and Arabic. (Wealthy patients from Middle Eastern countries are one of the
largest target markets for healthcare-related travel.)
If the shopper is having difficulty deciding which facility to choose,
language becomes a critical differentiator. Facilities go to great lengths in their
marketing content to alleviate patient concerns about language barriers. Many
medical tourism sites reassure prospective visitors by letting them know how
many bilingual doctors and nurses they have on staff, but they also specifically
tout their translation and interpreting services. For example, Phuket Hospital in
Thailand has interpreters for fifteen different languages.
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Not to be outdone,
Bangkok International Hospital employs seventy interpreters and boasts an
internal translation center that produces marketing materials in Korean,
Japanese, Khmer, Lao, and Arabic.
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Inbound medical tourism is common too
—the Mayo Clinic is one of the most popular destinations for foreign patients
visiting the United States and offers a host of languages for translation and
interpreting.
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Language work becomes even more important once a medical procedure is
booked. Before the visit, insurance documents and medical records must be
translated. Communications with patients—including emails and voice mails—
also need to be rendered into the local language and retained in the patient’s
file. When the patient actually arrives at the facility, much of the written
documentation has already been translated, such as discharge instructions and
rehabilitation exercises. However, the patient will often rely on an interpreter
to communicate with different staff members throughout the stay.
Patient-provider communications are not the only types of translated
information that keeps the cosmetic-surgery industry churning. Translators
routinely translate scientific papers, either to be published in international

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medical journals or for consumption by professionals and educators at
medical schools. International conferences on cosmetic surgery require
interpreters too. New innovations in the field depend on translation to apply for
international patents. The machines and instruments used also require
translation of technical documentation and adaptation of the electronic
interfaces for local markets. So, are translators and interpreters making the
world a more beautiful place? We suppose so, depending on your definition of
beauty.