Being a medical interpreter can be challenging. Mr. Chinchilla says the hardest days are when he has to let a family know that their relative has died. “It is difficult to see the family break down, crying,” he says. “You have to keep your composure.” Mr. Chinchilla also has plenty of stories about how he has helped people get the care they need. In one case, a doctor noticed that a 10-year-old Latino boy was overweight. The boy was sad and angry. He also was not doing well in school. He didn’t seem to have many friends. Mr. Chinchilla was able to serve as interpreter for his whole family. Working with the hospital staff, he could help the family learn the best ways to help the boy lose weight. They discussed how to give him a healthy diet and how he could get involved in physical activities at school. In time, the boy lost weight, and his overall attitude and well-being improved, Mr. Chinchilla says. Ms. Romano says that she feels it is important to care for the whole patient. To her, medical care is more than paying attention to the body. You need to offer empathy, hope, and understanding, too. That’s what medical interpreters like Mr. Chinchilla communicate to their patients. —By Healthy Comet staff Cole Manor Elementary School 13 Illustration by Jordan Wright, St. Martin de Porres Healthy Saint