When we think about job opportunities in healthcare, what automatically comes to mind are doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and pharmacists. However, while hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, and caregiving facilities are primarily seen as avenues for careers in clinical medicine, they also have a plethora of talent recruitment needs that are non-clinical. And just like many other business environments, there are golden opportunities for job seekers who command more than one language that do not require any medical school credits.
In 2009, I began working directly with a major hospital system in my state as a communications and marketing consultant. They needed help addressing their growing number of Hispanic patients. This is when I learned that hospitals are federally mandated to align with fifteen National Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Standards (CLAS) of care, which include very specific descriptions of situations that require language assistance and the reasons why language proficiency in these situations is paramount. Following are the linguistically appropriate CLAS standards that healthcare organizations and professionals must be mindful of:
- Offer language assistance to individuals who have limited English proficiency and/or other communication needs, at no cost to them, to facilitate timely access to all health care and services.
- Inform all individuals of the availability of language assistance services clearly and in their preferred language, verbally, and in writing.
- Ensure the competence of individuals providing language assistance, recognizing that the use of untrained individuals and/or minors as interpreters should be avoided.
- Provide easy-to-understand print and multimedia materials and signage in the languages commonly used by the populations in the service area.
After 14 years working with various hospital networks across the East Coast, these are some of the non-clinical roles I have encountered where commanding more than one language is seen as an asset by employers in healthcare across various departments to meet the CLAS standards:
- Communications Executive
- Brand Manager
- Copywriter
- Translator
- Voiceover Talent
- Media Planner and Buyer
- Public Relations Executive
- Market Researcher and Analyst
- Social Media Specialist
- Supplier Diversity Executive
- Vendor Relations Manager
- Contracting Specialist
- Customer Service Manager
- Community Relations Liaison
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Executive
- Video Remote Interpreter
- Onsite Interpreter
- Corporate Social Responsibility Executive
- Social Worker
- Event Coordinator
- Medical Billing Representative
It is important to also note that opportunities for bilingual and multilingual candidates for jobs in healthcare will continue to grow. According to a recent study entitled “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers”, 41 percent of healthcare and social assistance employers say they rely “a lot” on employees with foreign language skills, and 65 percent are significantly more likely than employers in any other sector to say they have a higher demand for foreign language skills than they did five years prior. This shouldn’t surprise us since the latest U.S. Census confirmed a 276 percent growth of people who identify as multiracial or multiethnic from 2010 to 2020. It’s safe to say that the Census data supports the notion that the demand for bilingual healthcare professionals will likely increase given that diverse individuals, from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, grew from 9 million to 33.8 million just in the last decade.
So, if you are bilingual or multilingual and are looking to make a career shift, healthcare might be an industry that offers great opportunities to use your language skills to help others—and you don’t have to be a doctor or a nurse! Hospitals, clinics, labs, pharmacies, and medical practices are in continuous need of non-clinical professionals that can assist with complying with CLAS standards of care.
To demonstrate your level of language proficiency to a prospective healthcare employer, you can take ACTFL language proficiency assessments available for reading, writing, speaking, and listening that are administered remotely by Language Testing International (LTI). LTI has conducted credentialed language proficiency assessments for the last 30 years, helping over 5 million people around the world get their language skills certified. Reach out to them today for expert guidance on how to utilize your bilingual or multilingual skills to tap into promising job opportunities in the healthcare industry.
Sources
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Lead with Languages Campaign commissioned Ipsos Public Affairs, with the support of Pearson LLC and Language Testing International. (2019). “Making Languages Our Business: Addressing Foreign Language Demand Among U.S. Employers.” https://www.leadwithlanguages.org/report
Department of Health and Human Services: https://thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov/clas
2020 U.S. Census: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/08/improved-race-ethnicity-measures-reveal-united-states-population-much-more-multiracial.html
