Boston University Medical Campus
Institutional Review Board

Interpreter Services for Research

We can provide interpreter services for your research using a dial-up service. BMC has positioned multiple telephones dedicated for this purpose at many in-patient and out-patient areas. A list of these locations can be found below. You can also use your own telephone, assuming that it allows both the researcher and the research subject to be on the line simultaneously. When using a dedicated interpreter phone, follow the instructions on the phone to connect to the service. If you are using your own phone, call BMC Interpreter Services to be connected (if you are calling between 8:30 AM and 5:00 PM, dial 617-414-5549; at other times, page the interpreter on call (beeper 6042) and ask him/her to connect you to the telephone service).

Once connected, the interpreter will ask you your name, your department, and the subject’s medical record number (some research subjects are not registered at BMC and don’t have BMC numbers–just explain this to the interpreter). They will then ask if this interpretation is for a research project. When you say “yes”, they will ask you for the name of the principal investigator and the IRB protocol number (it starts with H and is listed on the top of the consent form). You can then proceed with the subject interview.

This service is available both for the consenting process and for follow up visits. The cost of the service is $1.00 per minute.

If you need a witness either for the consent process or for the any other subject session, you can use the interpreter’s identification number in place of a formal signature.