Healthcare Interpreting Training: Present and Future at Spanish Universities

The number of Spanish universities offering translation and interpretation studies has grown exponentially over the last decades. At present more than 30 bachelor’s degrees and official master’s degrees are offered in Spain. Additionally, an effort to adapt to the demands and challenges posed by the current Spanish society has been made by these universities in order to offer distinctive curricula that awaken future students’ interest. The main aims of this chapter are to determine if translation and interpretation degrees are tailored to cover the needs regarding healthcare interpreting and to identify the characteristics that subjects and courses on this field should have. The collected data will serve to provide a bigger picture of the current situation of healthcare interpreting training in Spain, describe its strengths and weaknesses and suggest measures for improvement in the future, in favour of the professionalisation of healthcare interpreting in this country.