Toward an Ethical Foundation for Medical Translators Training Through Critical Pedagogy and Activism

Abstract

This work, as an independent teaching initiative, proposes the integration of professional ethics and social activism into the training of medical translators. Drawing on the principles of Freire and the contributions of Giroux, as well as Tymoczko, Valero-Garcés, and Tipton, medical translation is approached as a social practice that promotes justice and equity in vulnerable contexts. The aim, therefore, was to analyze the evolution of students’ perceptions of ethics in medical translation through the design, implementation, and evaluation of pedagogical strategies based on critical pedagogy and activism, aimed at strengthening their ethical and activist training. The research was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, a qualitative survey was administered to students who had taken a Medical Translation course under a previous curriculum, which referenced the translator’s social responsibility in the syllabus but did not address it in the course content or activities. In the second phase, with a new group and an updated curriculum that includes ethics as a central theme from the first module, a four-week intervention was designed and implemented. This intervention included activities on pro¬fessional profile, bioethical dilemmas, and the creation of accessible materials. The results of phase 1 showed that students recognized ethics and terminological accuracy as important aspects, albeit in general terms. In phase 2, a deeper evolution was observed: students identified terminological accuracy as an ethical cornerstone, developed greater awareness of its impact on linguistic accessibility, understood the legal implications of their work, and expressed increased confidence in addressing ethical dilemmas. This proposal reinforces the role of medical translators as agents of social change.