Imagine blanking on a term you studied last week. If it is unclear on the call, request clarification. Afterward, revisit the source and check whether your glossary entry gives enough context to use it.
This is the problem a glossary bank solves. Not by making you smarter. By making sure the work you’ve already done doesn’t disappear.
What a Glossary Bank Is
A glossary bank is a personal terminology database. Not a dictionary. Not a word list someone else made. It’s your collection - built from your calls, your specialties, your language pair, your real encounters with terms that tripped you up or took effort to nail down.
A personal glossary complements published references. Save the source and context with each entry so you can check it later.
Why a Glossary Helps on OPI
Some OPI assignments arrive with little preparation time. A searchable reference can help you revisit terms from the specialties you cover.
It isn’t your only preparation, and it doesn’t replace training or clarification when a term is uncertain.
What Goes in a Glossary Entry
A useful glossary entry has more than two columns. The term alone isn’t enough - you need enough context to use it correctly when you’re under pressure and haven’t seen it in weeks.
Here is an illustrative entry. MedlinePlus explains the procedure and Spanish terminology; the sample sentence is invented for practice:
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| Source term | transthoracic echocardiogram |
| Target term | ecocardiograma transtorácico |
| Abbreviation | TTE |
| Definition/context | Ultrasound of the heart through the chest wall; non-invasive |
| Specialty | Cardiology |
| Example sentence | ”We’ll schedule a transthoracic echocardiogram to check your valve function.” |
| Date added | 2026-03-15 |
A definition and an example can help you check whether an equivalent fits a new context. A familiar term alone is not proof of that fit.
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Don’t overthink the format. Start with five columns: source term, target term, definition, specialty, and date. You can always add fields later. The glossary you maintain beats the perfect one you never start.
How to Organize It
Organization determines whether you’ll use your glossary under pressure. A long list becomes difficult to use if you cannot quickly narrow it to the relevant specialty.
By specialty first, alphabetical within. Group your terms under headers: Medical, Legal, Insurance, Education, Immigration, Social Services. Within each specialty, alphabetize. When you get a medical call, you go straight to Medical and scan. No wading through legal terminology to find a diagnosis.
For medical terms specifically, sub-grouping by body system works even better: Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Gastrointestinal, Musculoskeletal. A cardiology filter keeps unrelated terms out of the way.
Tag frequency. Mark terms you encounter repeatedly. These are your high-priority review items. If “informed consent” comes up on every legal call, it should be the first term you see when you open that section.
Where to Find Terms
You don’t need to invent your terminology database from scratch. Good sources already exist - you just need to pull from them systematically.
Recurring work topics. Note general terms you want to study, not patient names, case details, or copied transcripts. Follow your agency’s confidentiality and retention rules. Build example sentences from public material or invent them.
Public medical references. Use sources such as MedlinePlus and check the target-language version where available. Our medical terminology guide covers how to verify an equivalent.
NCIHC resources. The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care maintains standards, training materials, and terminology references that are specifically built for healthcare interpreters.
Medical dictionaries and agency training materials. Stedman’s, Dorland’s, or even a bilingual medical dictionary for your language pair. Your agency may also provide term lists for their most common call types - ask if you haven’t already.
After a difficult term. Revisit the uncertainty after the shift and check a reliable source. If you discover an interpreting error, follow the assignment’s correction process; improving a glossary does not correct the earlier rendition.
The Tools: Pick What You’ll Use
Spreadsheets (Google Sheets, Excel). Sortable and searchable, with cost and sharing controls that depend on the product and plan. Google Sheets has the advantage of being accessible from your phone - you can search it mid-shift if needed. Add filters by specialty column and you have a functional terminology database without building a custom application.
Dedicated tools (InterpretBank). Purpose-built for interpreters. InterpretBank includes a memorization mode that drills terms like flashcards. If you’re willing to invest in a paid tool, these can do more than spreadsheets. (We compared several options in The Interpreter’s Toolkit.)
Notebooks. Analog works for some people. A physical notebook, organized by tabbed sections per specialty, is fast to flip through and never runs out of battery. The downside: search is manual, and a lost notebook is gone.
Interpreter offers a 50-term custom glossary. Enter verified, non-sensitive terms before a session. Transcription can still misrecognize them; the glossary does not guarantee accuracy.
Do not save or reuse call transcripts as study material without authorization. NCIHC’s standards include confidentiality as part of professional practice.
The best tool is the one you’ll use consistently. A Google Sheet you update after every shift beats an InterpretBank account you haven’t opened in two months.
Building the Habit
A large list is little use if you cannot verify or find its entries. Start with a few terms you can check, then test the search and organization before adding more.
Build from public references, training, and the general topics you need to study. Revisit entries as your assignments change.
Start small. Add a few verified terms when you have time after a shift. A suggested goal is three to five, but skip an entry rather than adding an unverified equivalent to meet a quota.
Weekly review. Set aside a manageable period to scan recent additions. Read the example sentences, test your recall, and flag equivalents that still need verification. The useful measure is accurate retrieval, not minutes spent.
Monthly self-test. Cover the target language column. Go through your specialty sections. Can you produce the correct term from the source term alone? The ones you miss get marked for extra review.
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A short recurring calendar block can prompt glossary review. Choose a schedule you can maintain, and skip an entry if you cannot verify it.
Using Your Glossary During Calls
A glossary you can’t access mid-call is a study tool, not a performance tool. Both have value, but the real payoff comes when you can reference it live.
Pre-call review. If the platform gives you a topic and preparation time, open the relevant terms. Check whether you can find them quickly. Do not delay an assignment or assume a fixed scan time guarantees recall.
Quick search. If your glossary is digital and searchable, keep it open in a side window. Use the search shortcut to find a term. This is where spreadsheets and dedicated tools beat notebooks.
Don’t read from it. Your glossary is a safety net, not a script. Glance, confirm, move on. If you’re reading definitions aloud to yourself mid-call, you’ve built a crutch, not a tool.
Start Today, Not Next Week
You don’t need the perfect system. You need a file - any file - with five columns and five terms from your last shift. Open a Google Sheet right now. Add the headers: Source Term, Target Term, Definition, Specialty, Date. Think about your last three calls. What term made you hesitate? What did you look up? What did you wish you’d known?
Write those down. That’s your glossary bank. Start with a few useful terms and keep only entries you can support. Quality matters more than reaching a particular size.
Keep checking the entries as your work changes. An uncertain term should stay marked uncertain until you have a reliable equivalent.
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