Approved for Nurses Continuing Education. "Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider # CEP 15854."

About our Team

Patient-Centered, Provider-Managed, Interpreter-Facilitated Human Communication ©

We are a team of healthcare professionals and professional interpreters who prepare medical interpreters for the clinical setting - hospitals and clinics, where your knowledge of medical terminology and professional interpreting skills are critical.

Meet the members of the Culture Advantage Team.

Mentors: Medical Division

Joon Lee, MD
Mentor, English-Korean Program
Medical Degree - American University of Antigua
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Korean Medical Interpreter Program

Dalia Elsouhag, MD, MS
Mentor, English-Arabic Program
MPH Student - Wayne State University
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Arabic Medical Interpreter Program

Ofelia Chacon, MD
Mentor, English-Spanish Program
Medical Degree - Colombia
PhD Microbiology - Texas A&M University
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Dhuha Alkanhawi
Mentor, English-Arabic Program
Medical Degree - Jordan
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Arabic Medical Interpreter Program

Lury Fernandez, RN
Mentor, English-Spanish Program
Registered Nurse - US
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Roger He
Mentor, English-Mandarin Program
Medical Degree - China
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Chinese Medical Interpreter Program

Idil Hernandez, BA, Physical Therapy
Mentor, English-Spanish Program
Physical Therapy - US
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Kelly Martinkus, BS
Manager of Program Development-Medical Division
Senior Medical Mentor, English-Spanish Program
Medical School - Mexico
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Rafael Don Q. Montalvo
Mentor, English-Spanish Program
Medical Degree - Cuba
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Marlene Obermeyer, MA, RN
Director, Culture Advantage
Registered Nurse - US

Iryna Potapenko, BA
Mentor, English- Russian Program
BA Physiotherapy - Ukraine

Mentors: Interpreting Division

Rosa Bassett, CMI
Mentor, Interpreting Division
Final Exam Proctor
Professional English-Spanish Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Lisa Mannella, CMI
Senior Mentor, Interpreting Division
Final Exam Proctor
Professional English-Spanish Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Kelsey Henriquez, BS, CHI
Mentor, Interpreting Division
BS Biomedical Science and Spanish
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Yvette Nevares, CMI
Mentor, Interpreting Division
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Spanish Medical Interpreter Program

Language Partners

Michelle Black
Trained English-Korean Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Korean Medical Interpreter Program

Joao Costa,
Trained English- Portuguese Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Portuguese Medical Interpreter Program

Kyung Nam,
Trained English-Korean Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Korean Medical Interpreter Program

Svetlana Matveeva, LMT
Trained English- Russian Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Russian Medical Interpreter Program

Kirby Obermeyer
American English Language Coach
Culture Advantage Graduate, Language-neutral Medical Interpreter Program

Lynne Tardiff, MT
Trained English-French Medical Interpreter
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-French Medical Interpreter Program

Christina Wren, LPN
Trained Medical Interpreter English-Vietnamese
Culture Advantage Graduate, English-Vietnamese Medical Interpreter Program