Approach & Workflow

Before starting any project, I conduct a comprehensive analysis of the documents, supported by bibliographic and terminological research when necessary.
My terminology choices depend on the document type, the medical context and the target audience. To do so, I rely on official, reliable and regulatory sources when applicable, such as the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD), the dictionaries of the French Academies of Medicine and Pharmacy, French and international Good Clinical Practice (GCP/ICH) guidelines and databases from regulatory authorities (e.g. ANSM glossaries and the EMA’s SPOR platform).
I also refer to the latest regulatory recommendations, including the EMA’s QRD templates and the ANSM's T10 templates for summaries of product characteristics (SmPCs), package (information) leaflets and labeling.
For example, informed consent forms and patient questionnaires require simplified terminology (plain language), which differs from the terminology used in documents intended for healthcare professionals (e.g. dispositif intra-utérin versus stérilet, and leucocytes versus globules blancs).
As an illustration of terminological localization between French variants, the terms substance active and effet indésirable must be used in documents written in French for France, whereas ingrédient actif and réaction indésirable au médicament, found in the glossaries of some pharmaceutical industry stakeholders, are accepted, or even recommended, in Canadian French.
In addition, using my own glossaries and translation memories, integrated in SDL Trados Studio, enables me to maintain terminological consistency within a project and, when relevant, across multiple projects. I am also proficient in Wordbee, which I use for some of my clients’ projects. Of course, I always take into account the instructions and glossaries provided by the client, to meet the specific requirements, while also offering suggestions or recommendations when appropriate.