Welcome to our very first episode of the year!   In this episode Sean Normansell, talks about the importance of National Certification for medical interpreters and what benefits it brings not only to interpreters and providers, but also for the healthcare community in general. We also discussed about the National conference to take place this June in Houston, TX.   More about our guest:    A Texas-born native English speaker, he studied Spanish and French in High School. After over fifteen years of ad hoc interpretation and bilingual positions in fields ranging from construction, landscaping, lawn maintenance and irrigation to debt collections-management and crew/logistics coordination for a foundation leveling contractor. Moving to Georgia in 2007, Sean completed the 40-hour Bridging the Gap Medical Interpreter training course, attended the state developed Court Interpretation Skills Workshop offered by the Georgia Commission on Interpreters, and a 40 hour Legal Interpreter training course at Georgia State University. Owning and operating his own business as a subcontractor accepting assignments from multiple companies located in the Atlanta area and around the country allowed for extensive hands on hands-on experience in the legal, medical, & social services interpretation fields. Sean has travelled to Spain and worked as an escort interpreter in Costa Rica on multiple occasions. Sean has been a staff interpreter at both Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, GA, and most recently for Seton Family of Hospitals in Austin, TX.  He is currently working with the National Board for Certification of Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) and serving as the Outreach Coordinator for the International Medical Interpreter Association’s (IMIA).   International Medical Interpreters Association (IMIA http://www.imiaweb.org/     The Joint Commission https://www.jointcommission.org/     The National Board www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org/     Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) www.cchicertification.org/   National Council on Interpreting in Health Care www.ncihc.org/