CPMC & CCSF Healthcare Interpreting Students Practicum Requirements and Guidelines

About California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC)

California Pacific Medical Center is one of the largest private, not-for-profit, academic medical centers in California
and is a Sutter Health affiliate. As a tertiary referral center, the Medical Center provides a wide variety of services,
including acute, post-acute and outpatient hospital care; home care and hospice services; preventive and
complementary care and health education.

CPMC is committed to training some of the leaders and finest healthcare professional in the Bay Area. As a teaching
hospital, CPMC provides residency/practicum programs for the following frontline medical workforce including:
medical resident and fellow, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, social worker, radiology technician, physical
therapist, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and medical interpreter.

CPMC has four campuses and satellite clinics across the City of San Francisco and serves an ethnically diverse
population, providing healthcare services and language access in Cantonese, Mandarin, Teochew, Hokkienese,
Shanghainese, Zhongshanese, Toishanese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish with 35 in-house interpreters.

Practicum

Field practicum is integral to the learning and development of interpreting competency, allowing students to simulate
clinical experience with skills acquired from the classroom. In this combined approach, classroom instruction and
field practicum allow students to fully immerse and combine pedagogy with practice in a clinical, context-driven
learning continuum. Each year, CPMC selects 1-2 highly-qualified students from the Chinese (Cantonese/Mandarin),
Spanish, and Russian groups to intern at CPMC. Students are selected based on and contingent to: 1. The renewing
of CPMC-CCSF Practicum and Internship Placement Contract or Addendum, and Memorandum, 2. The availability
of field instructors, 3. The overall hospital and administrative landscape, 4. The overall quality of students, and,
5. Students meeting all practicum prerequisites and requirements.

Specialties and Sub-Specialties

CPMC isone of the top hospitals in the nation with best clinical outcomes recognized by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services - Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).Students interested in field
placement at CPMC can expect to be exposed to a variety of clinical experiences with our specialties and sub-
specialties clinics. Among some of our unique specialties clinics, students have the opportunity to work at:
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Neuromuscular DisordersResearch Center, Brain and Brain Surgery,

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Electrophysiology, Genetics (both Perinatal and Pediatric), Kidney and Liver Transplant, Palliative and Hospice
Care, Pediatric Specialty (including Hematology, Oncology, Orthopedics, Nephrology, Genetics, Endocrinology),
Radiation Oncology, Stroke and Rehabilitation Center, and other conventional specialties and clinics. Students are
expected to interpret at the intermediate to advance level when working at CPMC. To prepare themselves with
terminologies used in these specialties and sub-specialties, we strongly advise students to read more about our
hospital and the different clinics at: http://www.cpmc.org/

Dartmouth, Stanford and UCSF @ CPMC

CPMC - Stanfords Lucille Packard Children Hospital: A Joint Collaboration
CPMC and Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital at Stanford Medicine jointly ventured the formation of a
collaborative relationship that substantially increases Northern California childrens access to highly specialized
inpatient hospital care. At CPMC, students have the opportunity to work with physicians and providers from
Stanford Medicine minus the travel to Palo Alto. Students will work closely with Stanfords providers in providing
care and language services to patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Medical Clerkship with the World-renowned Medical Schools: UCSF and Dartmouth Medicine
Interpreter interns also have the opportunity to work and interact with medical fellows, residents and students from
Dartmouth, Stanford and UCSF. California Pacific Medical Center offers clinical clerkships at all of our four campus
locations to medical students enrolled in United States medical schools or schools accredited by the LCME (Liaison
Committee for Medical Education).
CPMC has forged a partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and the Geisel School
of Medicine at Dartmouth to bring their students to San Francisco for third and fourth year clerkships in the
following disciplines: Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Family Medicine, Pediatrics and
Neurology.

CPMC Research Institute

The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI) brings clinicians and researchers together
to discover improved treatments and diagnostic technologies.

Over 80 principal investigators lead innovative research in cancer, aging, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, diabetes,
epilepsy, infectious diseases, drug addiction, neurobiology of pain, neurodegenerative diseases, and osteoporosis.

Our clinical and translational scientists merge research institute interests with the needs of CPMCs medical center,
making research an integral foundation for improved patient care. For lists of peer-reviewed publications, please
visit: http://www.cpmc.org/professionals/research/publications/

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Modes of Interpreting and Students Speaking a Second Dialect

Students are expected to perform Consecutive, Simultaneous, Sight, and Video Interpreting at CPMC. All admitted
students must be linguistically competent in reading, writing and speaking in both English and the target language.
For students who speak more than one dialect, students must pass CPMCs in-house language screening prior to
interpreting in the second dialect.

Expected Hours at Practicum

Potential students are expected to complete 45-hours of encounter under the guidance of field instructor(s) and an
additional of 8-hours of volunteering work.

Students Dismissal
Students will be dismissed and received a failing grade based on the following reasons:

Unable to meet CPMC and preceptors expectations in clinical skills.

Repeated tardiness, absence and/or non-compliance to rules and regulations of CPMC.

Received three or more complaints and/or dissatisfactory feedbacks from providers.

Abandoning preceptor and patient for any reason (e.g. Student left during an encounter to move his/her
car. This will automatically result in an F grade and student will be dismissed immediately).

Application Process and Requirement

To initiate the process, potential students should first contact the CCSF HCI Program Coordinator to express interest
and prepare the following documentations. After all required documents has been completed, the CCSF HCI
Program Coordinator will contact and submit your application to Margaret Loo, the Practicum Coordinator.
Required Documents:-
Immunization clearance
PPD clearance
Proof of current enrollment at CCSF (official or unofficial transcript)
Students current resume

Other Supporting Documents:

Two recommendation letters (One of the letter must come from Language Coach)
Complete Application
Essay (see instructions below)

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Essay Question

Please write a two-page double-spaced, one inch margin, succinct essay responding to the questions below:

Please describe:-

1. What inspired your decision to become a medical interpreter

2. The basis for your interest in medical interpreting

3. Your preparation for training in this profession

4. Your aptitude and motivation

5. Your future career goal

6. Explain why the practicum at CPMC would be a good fit for you

Note: Essay must be written in standard essay format. English grammar, sentence structure, and composition
will be taken into consideration when the panel reads the essay.

* Please Note that admission to California Pacific Medical Centers (CPMC) practicum is not a guarantee.
Numerous factors could affect students admission. Students are encouraged to apply at other practicum or
internship sites in conjunction to applying at CPMC.

Preliminary Skills Screening

Due to the limited practicum availability and the level of interpreting competency required for our clinical specialties
and sub-specialties, CPMC can only accommodate 1-2 highly-qualified candidate(s) from each language group each
semester. Potential students are required to submit all documents and supporting documents along with two
recommendation letters (one from class instructor and one from language coach). Upon receiving all required
materials, CPMCs Interpreting Quality Assurance Team will review the materials and invites 1-2 qualified
candidates for preliminary skills screening. Students are screened for both language and interpreting competency.

Parking and Shuttle Services

Shuttle services are available between all campuses; parking is not provided and students should make prior
arrangements for parking and transportation.

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CPMC & CCSF HCI Internship Coordinator

Attention: Margaret Loo
Email: loom@sutterhealth.org

Recommendation Letter (by faculty)

Please write a one page succinct letter describing the following:

1) Students academic preparation and why you think this student will be a good fit for CPMC.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

2) Students English (or the target language) competency on a scale of 0-10. 10 being the highest
(native speaker), 1 being the lowest (English starter, developer). (Circle number)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Comment: ___________________________________________________________________________

3) Provide an example when the student went above and beyond in class or language lab.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

4) Describe both positive and negative attributes of student that youve observed, and how these
attributes would contribute to the success or challenges of internship at CPMC.
____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

5) Any details or incidents of importance related to students background and learning style.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Students Name: ________________________ Faculty Signature: ___________________ Date: ____________

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CPMC & CCSF HCI Internship Coordinator

Attention: Margaret Loo
Email: loom@sutterhealth.org

Recommendation Letter (by Language Coach)

Please write a one page succinct letter describing the following:

1) Students academic preparation and why you think this student will be a good fit for CPMC.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

2) Students English (or the target language) competency on a scale of 0-10. 10 being the highest
(native speaker), 1 being the lowest (English starter, developer). (Circle number)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Comment: ___________________________________________________________________________

3) Provide an example when the student went above and beyond in class or language lab.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

4) Describe both positive and negative attributes of student that youve observed, and how these
attributes would contribute to the success or challenges of internship at CPMC.
____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

5) Any details or incidents of importance related to students background and learning style.

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

Students Name: ________________________ Coach Signature: ___________________ Date: ___________

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