Interpreting 19:2 (2017), 232–259. doi 10.1075/intp.19.2.04lea issn 1384–6647 / e-issn 1569–982X © John Benjamins Publishing Company From concern for patients to a quest for information How medical socialization shapes family physicians’ representations of interpreters Yvan Leanza 1 , Elias Rizkallah 2 , Tomas Michaud-Labonté 1 and Camille Brisset 3 1 Université Laval / 2 Université du Québec à Montréal / 3 Université de Bordeaux Tis study of social representations about interpreted medical consultations examines the discourse of French language focus groups (FGs), conducted in Quebec, with 22 third year medical students (4 FGs), 29 family medicine resi- dents (4 FGs) and 47 experienced family physicians (5 FGs). Te audio-recorded FGs were transcribed. Each discussed two video vignettes of interpreted consul- tations. Statistical textual analysis showed that the students’ discourse patterns difered by FG. Residents prioritized access to the patient’s culture via the inter- preter, though recognizing the need to respect the patient-physician relation- ship. Senior physicians organized their discourse diferently for each vignette, associating it with a ‘standard’ response: for them, the two main issues were the quest for information, which we relate to the medical socialization process; and the interpreter’s stances, in terms of how s/he is perceived by physicians and the role(s) s/he is seen to play in the consultation. Physicians tend to represent the interpreter as a controllable ‘object’, not a full-fedged healthcare professional. Keywords: healthcare interpreter, interpreter’s role, cross-cultural healthcare, medical socialization, textometry 1. Introduction Te linguistic gap between patient and health practitioner is one of the most important contributory factors in healthcare disparities (Pottie et al. 2008). In a recent survey of Montreal family physicians, communication was reported as the main difculty when dealing with immigrant patients (77% of respondents),