Graphic medicine as a tool for translating and adapting biosanitary texts

Abstract

Graphic medicine is considered an instrument to convey scientific knowledge, as well as a valuable tool in training doctors. On the other hand, within the discipline of translation and interpretation, there are numerous studies on medical genres and their translation, as well as, more specifically, certain research lines focused on medical-patient communication with health brochures and comics. However, there is a research section that is still little studied that combines the translation and adaptation of highly specialized medical texts for patients, health care workers, and their relatives. This article describes the Galileo oncotrad project, of the University of Córdoba (Spain), whose goal is to translate and adapt specialized texts for patients and their relatives, turning them into new texts with totally different formats. With this research project, we have verified how highly specialized texts can be translated and adapted to an understandable language and format and directed to the real recipients of the related information: patients.