What is the Interpretation Team?
The Interpretation Team is a resource of Avicenna that was implemented in Spring 2016. It is comprised of volunteers who speak or study various languages besides English. Volunteers are available to facilitate a conversation between a healthcare provider and a patient, who may have difficulty speaking English. This provides a clear and comprehensive discussion to ensure that both healthcare provider and patient are fully informed.
What services do we provide?
We can provide interpretation for the following languages: Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Gujarati, and Thai. Please contact Avicenna before your visit to request a Volunteer Interpreter for your specific language.
Interpretations Managers
Trisha Haria
Trisha is a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in Bioengineering. She has been a part of the Avicenna Team since Spring 2024. Trisha has been committed to helping her community by working to reduce language barriers and health inequities in order to make quality healthcare accessible to all.
Nikola Le Tien
Nikola is a recent graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he majored in biochemistry. He joined Avicenna in Fall 2024 as a French interpreter and is now excited to step into a co-leadership role with the interpretation department. Drawn to the world of EMS and the field of emergency medicine, he works as an EMT across both ambulance and event medical settings, and also serves as an ED technician at a Level 1 trauma center.