Global Workforce Survey of Healthcare Interpreters

Join our first ever effort to bring clarity to our profession! Help us understand where you work from, who you work for, your working conditions, compensation structure, and more. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to meaningful change by fostering greater transparency within our profession.

This groundbreaking survey is for currently practicing interpreters who serve the U.S. healthcare and health systems as well as any field that interacts with medical providers regardless of whether they reside in the U.S. or in another country.

The purpose of this survey is to understand the demographic makeup and practice of healthcare interpreters who serve U.S. patients and providers. It is like a census of healthcare interpreters. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) undertakes this survey because there is no consistent and clear data about our profession on a global level. As you may know, in the U.S., the Bureau of Labor Statistics lumps all interpreters, regardless of their specialization, with translators, making it hard to utilize their information for decision-making regarding healthcare interpreters specifically.

We ask you to answer all the questions of the survey to the best of your knowledge and ability. There is strength in numbers.  And we need to understand the numbers.  To help all of us (certifying bodies, interpreting associations, staff interpreters, freelance interpreters, academic programs, interpreter training organizations, employers and contractors of interpreters, etc.) improve the working conditions of interpreters everywhere, we need to understand the day-to-day work reality of all interpreters.

Data collected through this survey will allow CCHI and others to make decisions affecting the profession in an evidence-based manner. All responses are completely anonymous; no personal information will be collected.

CCHI will make the survey report publicly available and free of charge. CCHI intends to conduct this survey every other year so that we can identify trends and changes in the healthcare interpreter profession.

CCHI is deeply thankful to the Survey Advisory Council (see the list of its members below), volunteer beta-testers of the survey, CCHI Commissioners, Dr. James P. Henderson, the survey statistician and analyst, and CCHI Executive Director Natalya Mytareva, the project principal, for their expertise, time, and insights that made this survey possible.

The survey takes approximately 30 minutes to complete. You may save your responses and come back to the survey later.

Please complete the survey by February 24, 2025.

This is our moment! Be part of the change! Take the survey! Let’s make history TOGETHER!