이화여자대학교 통역번역연구소

Munjung Bae and NaBee Yoon (2026). Toward an improved management system for professional healthcare interpreters: Focus group interviews with key stakeholders. This study examines how effectively South Korea's professional healthcare interpreter management system operates in practice and proposes directions for improvement. Focus group interviews (FGI) were conducted with four stakeholder groups: healthcare interpreting practitioners, medical institution staff, healthcare interpreter trainers, and exam developers. The findings revealed four common issues across all groups: ambiguity in roles and responsibilities; insufficient alignment among training, certification exams and actual practice; limited institutional incentives; and inadequate post-certification support and career development pathways. To address these issues, the study proposes a continuing education and recertification system for certified interpreters, a short-term training track for uncertified interpreters, and a centralized workforce pool managed by a public institution. It also recommends the development of certified interpreters as trainers to enhance the practical relevance of training programs, along with policy incentives for medical institutions, such as hospital accreditation and financial support, in order to encourage the hiring of certified interpreters. (Yeungnam University, Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare)