Recently, the interpretation team of the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, consisting of teachers of the Department of English Philology Valerii Hanzin and Tetiana Petrenko, students of bachelor and master educational programs Nestor Bolshakov, Victoria Yatsyshyn and Oksana Lapchynska, and graduates of the department Valeriia Kornuta, Maria Baziv and Anna Havrylyshyn took part in the International Medical Mission “Face the Future Ukraine”, which was organized by the “Face the Future” foundation , “Ukrainian Association of Endoscopic Surgery of the Head and Neck”, charitable organizations “Razom for Ukraine”, “Still Strong” and many other partners.
The purpose of the “Face the Future Ukraine” mission is to treat Ukrainian military personnel and civilians with severe head and neck injuries as well as to share knowledge with Ukrainian colleagues. The work of the interpretation team, which comprised several stages, played an important role in achieving this goal.
The first stage of the team’s work consisted in the written translation of a number of medical documents and 14 presentations that American and Canadian specialists prepared for the 3rd International Symposium for nurses
“Treating patients with military injuries and post-traumatic disorders”. The translated materials contributed to the improvement of the knowledge exchange process between Ukrainian and foreign medical workers and were highly
appreciated by specialists from Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv.
The second stage of the team’s work consisted in interpretation support during two international symposia, patient examinations, press conferences, media interviews, as well as directly during surgical operations. High-quality
interpretation ensured reliable communication between all members of the surgical teams, patients and media representatives.
The third and final stage consisted in the written translation of the surveys of doctors and nurses, conducted during two international symposia, for “Face the Future”. With the help of these materials, specialists from Canada and the USA will be able to better understand the needs of their Ukrainian colleagues and will plan the next missions, taking into account all the wishes and recommendations.
A landmark event was the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the “Face the Future” foundation and the Faculty of Foreign Languages of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University during the meeting of the
President and Founder of “Face the Future” Peter Adamson with the Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Nataliia Yatskiv and the Head of the Department of English Philology Yakiv Bystrov. The Memorandum of Understanding aims at deepening cooperation between the parties and promoting the development of
medical translation in Ukraine.
The head of the interpretation team, teacher of the Department of English Philology, Valerii Hanzin noted: “The third mission turned out to be challenging, because this time we had to provide translation and interpretation
support not only during its active phase, but also before and after it. Our team’s work covers all aspects of the mission: educational, surgical, personal and media. The members of the team did an incredible job, and our efforts were not in vain. We received a lot of positive feedback from specialists of various fields and ranks, and most importantly – from our military, thanks to whom we are able to continue our work.The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is an event of great importance for us and the faculty, because it confirms the involvement of the interpretation team in the next “Face the Future Ukraine” missions. This enables us to prepare for the mission our best students, who will be able to get hands-on experience of translation and interpreting.”