A future without language barriers in healthcare.
AALB is an Illinois-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization aiming to improve the health of patients with limited English proficiency. We do this by training professional medical interpreters, providing interpreter services to healthcare organizations, and lobbying for policy reform. We envision a future where language services are seamlessly and freely available across the healthcare system.
501(c)(3) nonprofit
EIN 83-3016421. 100% of donations are used for charitable purposes.
Verify with the IRS2023 Form 990
Our filed return, in full, for anyone who wants to read it.
Read the filingAward-winning program
The International Medical Interpreters Association honored our program with its Distinction in Education Award.
See the program
Thousands of interpreters started here
Tuition funds everything else on this page. Every program is taught live by working interpreters, and every graduate keeps our support for as long as we exist.
The 60-hour training
Our flagship program. Sixty hours, live and online, that qualify a bilingual person to work as a medical interpreter in every language they are fluent in.
See the trainingASL medical interpreting
60 hours taught entirely in American Sign Language, Deaf-led, for interpreters already qualified in ASL, carrying 6.0 RID CEUs. Coming back, with a waitlist open now.
Join the waitlistContinuing education
AALB Mental Health Training, by Kelly (Grzech) Henriquez. 3 lectures, free to watch, each accredited for 1 CEU through CCHI and NBCMI.
Watch and earn CEUsFour things we do, all of them the same thing
We train professional medical interpreters.
There is a severe shortage of medical interpreters, even though they are mandated by law and proven to improve patient care. AALB aims to fill this gap through its Medical Interpreter Training Program, which serves as the foundational qualification to interpret professionally in healthcare settings across the United States. Thousands of students have graduated from our training course and earned continuing education credits with AALB Academy.
We have a team of experienced and award-winning course instructors.
AALB's team of course instructors have a passion for medical interpretation. They have earned NBCMI and CCHI certificates, presented at international conferences, run medical interpreter support groups, taught in universities, and have extensive professional experience interpreting for patients.
Our program is recognized across the country.
Graduates who earn AALB's Certificate of Training can begin working as medical interpreters in healthcare settings across the United States. In addition, the AALB Certificate of Training qualifies graduates to sit for the CCHI and NBCMI medical interpreter certification exams, which are the highest national qualifications medical interpreters can obtain.
We provide free medical interpretation services to our partners.
Graduates of AALB's Medical Interpreter Training Program can choose to volunteer their time to our partner nonprofit healthcare institutions in need of medical interpreters. In this manner, we have offered medical interpreter services pro bono to free clinics across the country.
Through our work and platforms, we promote awareness to patients and care providers about the role of interpreters in healthcare settings, as well as the legal obligations of medical facilities to provide qualified, professional interpreters to all limited English proficiency, deaf, or hard of hearing patients.
Meet the people behind itYou have the right to an interpreter
Carry our Civil Rights Card and hand it to any hospital, clinic or pharmacy. It states your right to a qualified medical interpreter under Title VI, Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it says that a family member or a bilingual staff member without interpreter training is not one.
Talk to a person
- 1 (773) 780-2824Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm Central Time
- Send us a message
- 1 East Erie Street, Suite 525-4588, Chicago, IL 60611
Leave us a voicemail and we'll return your call.
No patient should face a diagnosis they cannot understand.
100% of donations are used for charitable purposes. Receipts will be emailed to donors instantly.
Americans Against Language Barriers · 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 83-3016421