“If you are considering starting the journey toward becoming a medical interpreter then you absolutely need to take this course!”

Meet Dannah Ortiz!
Medical Interpretation Certificate Graduate

Dannah Ortiz is a Spanish teacher at Hamden High School in Hamden, Connecticut. She took the Continuing Education Department’s Multicultural/Multilingual Medical Interpretation course at Central Connecticut State University in 2015 in hopes of it helping her in her quest for a career change. Ms. Ortiz wants to use her native language to help others in the community, and the course helped her begin that goal and to enter the medical field. She stated that the course opened doors for her that she never even knew existed, and thanks Professor Shirley Rojas for her mentoring and instruction in the MMMI course. MMMI is a hybrid course that is taught in English, and it allows students to become a Certified Medical Interpreter.

The MMMI course gave Ms. Ortiz the opportunity to work in a small class, which she thoroughly enjoyed. The smaller class size allowed her and her fellow classmates to build close personal relationships with each other and with Professor Rojas. The part of the course that Ms. Ortiz enjoyed most was the practicum on Saturdays at the Yale free clinic, observed by Professor Rojas. Ms. Ortiz enjoyed the practicum so much that she continues to volunteer at the clinic on Saturdays to this day. She believes working at the clinic is the best way to use the skills taught to her in the MMMI course. Because of the opportunities created for her through the MMMI course, Ms. Ortiz plans to get nationally certified, master the art of interpreting, and eventually start her own business that offers medical and legal interpretation to the Spanish-speaking community.

If you are interested or want to learn more about the Medical Interpretation program at CCSU, please contact Christa Sterling at CSterling@ccsu.edu or 860-832-2277.