CHI study guide
CHI · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The CHI™ (Certified Healthcare Interpreter™) credential is CCHI's language-specific performance certification, offered for Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin interpreters. Unlike CCHI's knowledge-based CoreCHI™ credential, which is open to interpreters of every language, the CHI™ exams focus on testing interpreting skills and abilities, with additional emphasis placed on all modes of interpreting in a healthcare encounter, sight translation, and healthcare document translation. It is therefore aimed at working interpreters who already handle real healthcare encounters in one of these three languages and want their performance validated against a national standard. CCHI describes its certification program as ensuring consistency of professional competencies, standards, and practices among healthcare interpreters, and defines a certified healthcare interpreter as someone able to perform the functions of a healthcare interpreter competently, independently, and unsupervised in any setting and modality where health care is provided. Topics on this exam: Interpreting skills and abilities across all modes of interpreting in a healthcare encounter, Sight translation, and Healthcare document translation. The CHI study guide has 3 sections and about 1,085 words.
01Interpreting Skills and Abilities Across Healthcare Modes
Healthcare interpreting spans several modes, and questions test whether you can match the mode to the situation. Consecutive interpreting is the default for most encounters: you render short segments after the speaker pauses. Simultaneous (or whispered) interpreting is used for long monologues, patient teaching, or when the provider needs to keep pace; it demands near-real-time processing and the ability to lag slightly behind the speaker. Sight translation is used for short documents read aloud on the spot.
365 words, about 2 min02Sight Translation
Sight translation is reading a written text in one language and rendering it orally into another, on the spot, with little preparation. In healthcare it appears with consent forms, discharge instructions, medication labels, and short patient-education handouts. The skill blends reading comprehension, rapid syntactic restructuring, and oral delivery. A disciplined method helps: scan the whole text first (title, structure, any numbers or warnings), then translate in meaningful chunks , keeping your eyes slightly ahead of your voice.
360 words, about 2 min03Healthcare Document Translation
Document translation is written, has time for revision, and carries accuracy and legal weight. Healthcare documents include consent forms, discharge summaries, lab reports, immunization records, and patient-education materials. Unlike sight translation, you can draft, review, and proofread - and you should. Key concepts: terminology consistency (use a glossary; render the same term the same way throughout), register appropriate to the document (formal for legal/consent text, plain language for patient education), completeness (no omissions, no additions, no commentary), and format preservation (keep headings, tables, checkboxes, and layout so the reader can navigate).
360 words, about 2 min