Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
Adj/FEA de cirugía general y digestiva
English translation:
Consultant in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery
Added to glossary by
Charles Davis
Feb 15, 2017 10:34
7 yrs ago
27 viewers *
Spanish term
Spain
1,120,673 words translated last year
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, English to French
Adj/FEA de cirugía general y digestiva
Spanish to English
Medical
Medical (general)
Professional categories
Translation of a certificate of services for a "Facultativo Especialista de Área de cirugía general y digestiva" Had previously translated it as Specialist in General and Digestive Surgery". The "facultativo" says this is not correct and wants to change it "Consultant". Any opinions on the one. I consider consultant to be something further up the scale. The document in for the UK.
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +1 | Consultant in General and Digestive Surgery |
Charles Davis
|
| 4 +1 | Specialist (Consultant) in General and Digestive Surgery |
Alistair Ian Spearing Ortiz
|
References
| Consultant vs Specialist |
neilmac
|
Change log
Feb 22, 2017 08:50: Charles Davis changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/99988">gerarda mc kenna's</a> old entry - "Adj/FEA de cirugía general y digestiva "" to ""Consultant in General and Digestive Surgery""
Proposed translations
+1
1 hr
Selected
Consultant in General and Digestive Surgery
I think your client is right and that it should be "consultant".
In the UK, "specialist" is not a job; it's a status. There is no one on the workforce of a hospital with the job title of "specialist" (as far as I know). But all consultants are necessarily specialists. The procedure is that you have to complete your specialty training, first as a foundation doctor (previously house officer) and then as a specialty registrar (formally specialist registrar). This takes at least 8 years. Having successfully completed this stage you get your Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) and can be put on the GMC specialist register. At that point you become eligible for appointment to a position as a consultant.
So becoming a specialist means acquiring the status that qualifies you to become a consultant.
In Spain, you go through your residency and at the end of it you can get your título de especialista. You can then work as a "médico especialista". But your ultimate goal is a position as Médico Adjunto/FEA. You can't be an Adjunto/FEA without being an especialista, but being an especialista doesn't make you an Adjunto/FEA of itself; you have to get the job (by oposición in Spain, of course).
It's important to be clear that Adjunto/FEA is a senior position with the same hallmarks that characterise the position of consultant: ultimate autonomy of decision-making and responsibility for patients assigned, supervisory duties over residents, etc.
If you are working the other way round and translating consultant into Spanish, using the terms of the Spanish medical profession, I think you would go with with Adjunto/FEA.
Both are senior positions, but there are more senior ones. An FEA can become a jefe de servicio. Similarly, a consultant can become a senior consultant, medical director, etc.
On consultants in the NHS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consultant_(medicine)
See these CVs, which enable you to gauge the career progression of Spanish doctors. As you can see, both have become Adjunto/FEA having held other positions as especialistas. In the first case, he became an especialista (Título de Médico Especialista) in 1994, after residency, became an FEA in 2000 got his current position as "Adjunto, FEA o MAP por oposición" in 2006.
https://spaincares.com/sites/default/files/cv_dr._arnaldo_ro...
https://ivi.es/especialistas/elena-sosa/
So I think your client is entitled to regard himself as equivalent to a UK consultant and the "specialist" would be selling him short. After all, it might well be taken to mean specialist registrar, which is much more lowly.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-02-15 12:39:50 GMT)
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We have a glossary entry with médico adjunto for consultant and I think it's right:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_spanish/medical/133133-...
The answer quotes Navarro, the guru in this field, who gives "medico especialista, médico adjunto" for consultant. I think this is right, but note, as I've said, that "médico adjunto" is higher than "médico especialista", so all the more reason for using "consultant" here.
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Note added at 2 hrs (2017-02-15 13:28:57 GMT)
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This gives you a flavour of what Adjuntos/FEA do. They sound just like consultants; they're bosses:
"La guardia del servicio de Traumatología y Cirugía Ortopédica (COT) se compone de :
- Dos adjuntos F.E.A. del Servicio que realizan las funciones de diagnóstico definitivo y tratamiento último de los pacientes del Servicio de Urgencias, de la planta del Servicio de COT y del resto de Servicios que soliciten consulta durante la guardia. Así mismo se harán cargo de las derivaciones a consulta que surjan durante la atención a los pacientes del Servicio de Urgencias.
Por lo tanto serán los facultativos responsables de la docencia y supervisión de los especialistas residentes en formación que estén asignados a la guardia de COT los días que ellos estén de guardia de COT."
http://www.cht.es/cht/cm/cht/images?locale=es_ES&textOnly=fa...
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Note added at 22 hrs (2017-02-16 09:02:08 GMT)
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Jane is quite right that the authentic term for the UK is "gastrointestinal" rather than "digestive" surgery. I would like to amend my answer to Consultant in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery. Here's an example of this exact expression:
"He was appointed as a consultant in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery at Barnet General Hospital in 1994"
https://www.spirehealthcare.com/consultant-profiles/mr-ian-m...
In the UK, "specialist" is not a job; it's a status. There is no one on the workforce of a hospital with the job title of "specialist" (as far as I know). But all consultants are necessarily specialists. The procedure is that you have to complete your specialty training, first as a foundation doctor (previously house officer) and then as a specialty registrar (formally specialist registrar). This takes at least 8 years. Having successfully completed this stage you get your Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) and can be put on the GMC specialist register. At that point you become eligible for appointment to a position as a consultant.
So becoming a specialist means acquiring the status that qualifies you to become a consultant.
In Spain, you go through your residency and at the end of it you can get your título de especialista. You can then work as a "médico especialista". But your ultimate goal is a position as Médico Adjunto/FEA. You can't be an Adjunto/FEA without being an especialista, but being an especialista doesn't make you an Adjunto/FEA of itself; you have to get the job (by oposición in Spain, of course).
It's important to be clear that Adjunto/FEA is a senior position with the same hallmarks that characterise the position of consultant: ultimate autonomy of decision-making and responsibility for patients assigned, supervisory duties over residents, etc.
If you are working the other way round and translating consultant into Spanish, using the terms of the Spanish medical profession, I think you would go with with Adjunto/FEA.
Both are senior positions, but there are more senior ones. An FEA can become a jefe de servicio. Similarly, a consultant can become a senior consultant, medical director, etc.
On consultants in the NHS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consultant_(medicine)
See these CVs, which enable you to gauge the career progression of Spanish doctors. As you can see, both have become Adjunto/FEA having held other positions as especialistas. In the first case, he became an especialista (Título de Médico Especialista) in 1994, after residency, became an FEA in 2000 got his current position as "Adjunto, FEA o MAP por oposición" in 2006.
https://spaincares.com/sites/default/files/cv_dr._arnaldo_ro...
https://ivi.es/especialistas/elena-sosa/
So I think your client is entitled to regard himself as equivalent to a UK consultant and the "specialist" would be selling him short. After all, it might well be taken to mean specialist registrar, which is much more lowly.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2017-02-15 12:39:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
We have a glossary entry with médico adjunto for consultant and I think it's right:
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/english_to_spanish/medical/133133-...
The answer quotes Navarro, the guru in this field, who gives "medico especialista, médico adjunto" for consultant. I think this is right, but note, as I've said, that "médico adjunto" is higher than "médico especialista", so all the more reason for using "consultant" here.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2 hrs (2017-02-15 13:28:57 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
This gives you a flavour of what Adjuntos/FEA do. They sound just like consultants; they're bosses:
"La guardia del servicio de Traumatología y Cirugía Ortopédica (COT) se compone de :
- Dos adjuntos F.E.A. del Servicio que realizan las funciones de diagnóstico definitivo y tratamiento último de los pacientes del Servicio de Urgencias, de la planta del Servicio de COT y del resto de Servicios que soliciten consulta durante la guardia. Así mismo se harán cargo de las derivaciones a consulta que surjan durante la atención a los pacientes del Servicio de Urgencias.
Por lo tanto serán los facultativos responsables de la docencia y supervisión de los especialistas residentes en formación que estén asignados a la guardia de COT los días que ellos estén de guardia de COT."
http://www.cht.es/cht/cm/cht/images?locale=es_ES&textOnly=fa...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 hrs (2017-02-16 09:02:08 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Jane is quite right that the authentic term for the UK is "gastrointestinal" rather than "digestive" surgery. I would like to amend my answer to Consultant in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery. Here's an example of this exact expression:
"He was appointed as a consultant in General and Gastrointestinal Surgery at Barnet General Hospital in 1994"
https://www.spirehealthcare.com/consultant-profiles/mr-ian-m...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Leda Roche
: It is for UK. I think this translation is fine, just to contribute to the discussion.
4 hrs
|
|
Many thanks, Denise!
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for taking time out to answer my question"
+1
12 mins
Alistair Ian Spearing Ortiz
Spain
Spain
Native in Spanish
&
English
Specializes in field
Spain
Language skills and scientific knowledge
Native in: Spanish (Variant: Standard-Spain) 
, English (Variant: UK)
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English to Spanish, and 6 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
44
Specialist (Consultant) in General and Digestive Surgery
Indeed, facultativo means "doctor" or "practitioner", as can be seen in a wide range of sources including the Diccionario crítico de dudas inglés-español de medicina, so I'd tend to go with your interpretation.
However, the customer is king, so if the facultativo wants to get the word "consultant" there, I think the farthest you can stretch it is "Specialist Consultant".
However, the customer is king, so if the facultativo wants to get the word "consultant" there, I think the farthest you can stretch it is "Specialist Consultant".
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
neilmac
: I don't see how "consultant" can be deemed somehow loftier than a specialist...
17 mins
|
| neutral |
Charles Davis
: Note that the term is Adjunto/FEA, not facultativo. A MIR is a facultativo.
1 hr
|
Reference comments
35 mins
Reference:
Consultant vs Specialist
A consultant, in UK English is a hospital doctor of senior rank within a specific field, e.g."a consultant paediatrician"
synonyms: senior doctor, specialist: "He's a consultant at the Queen Elizabeth hospital".
Perhaps people think it sounds better, but in my opinion someone who specialises should be more knowledgeable. Note that dictionaries define this as a UK usage. I don't know about the United States.
BTW: I sometimes tell people I'm a language consultant and it seems to impress them. Little do they know... :)
synonyms: senior doctor, specialist: "He's a consultant at the Queen Elizabeth hospital".
Perhaps people think it sounds better, but in my opinion someone who specialises should be more knowledgeable. Note that dictionaries define this as a UK usage. I don't know about the United States.
BTW: I sometimes tell people I'm a language consultant and it seems to impress them. Little do they know... :)
Discussion
Another thing - I would say "gastrointestinal surgery" rather than digestive surgery.
Consultant indicates the position held and implies the level of training aquired to be able to do that job. In most specialties, he/she will have undergone "specialty training" as a "specialist registrar" for several years, then done exit exams to get to the position of consultant.
In general practice, however, GPs are not specialists, but are now considered consultants (they didn´t use to be).
If I was reading the CV of a doctor in the UK, I would find it odd to see "specialist" as a job title. I think it is a little unclear. Essentially, were they the boss or did they still have a boss? I would expect to see "specialist registrar" or "consultant" depending on their level.
I would expect patients to be told by, say, their referring GP "he/she is a specialist" but I would´t use it myself to describe a job/position, unless talking to someone outside the medical setting.