ENRICO HONNORAT (asker) Nov 24, 2016:

I agree.
Naturally, a job like that is only taken up for the sake of a very good and long-term client who a) knows very well that the topic strays out of your area of specialization, and b) nevertheless still wants your involvement, having trust in you.
Other than in that context, I stay as far away as possible from what is not my expertise and I do not feel quite confident about, and I do not volunteer for such jobs. I have enough good quality work not to rush into something I will feel regretful about.
But yes, when there are some unusual job commitments with trickier unfamiliar works, it helps a lot to turn to the panel of potential ProZ assistants.

Joseph Tein Nov 24, 2016:

what we accept When you accept assignments on topics with which you are not familiar, you may very likely get into a stressful situation where you are struggling to (correctly) translate something that's full of terms and concepts you don't know. It takes you far longer to finish a job like this, and also increases the chances of making mistakes and delivering something to your client that's not 100% accurate. One of my friends is an excellent, highly proficient translator with all sorts of certifications, and he tells me that he was soundly rebuked when he delivered his first and only medical translation job. It takes a great deal of specialized knowledge and experience to do one of these reports, and even with that we're still constantly running into terminology we've never seen before. I'm always grateful to ProZ colleagues for the continuous help and support.

ENRICO HONNORAT (asker) Nov 24, 2016:

We accept what we need to accept and we leave out what we need to leave out.
We leave out far more than we accept.
There are, however, special clients from whom we accept more than we leave out.
As the Chinese say, each person is the best doctor of his own self :)

Fiona Grace Peterson Nov 24, 2016:

The fact that "we get everything" does not mean "we accept everything".

Joseph Tein Nov 24, 2016:

You're not a beginner! I only meant "beginner" in terms of medical translation ... I've looked at your profile.

And looking at BiBD in context, we see that it has to an ECG finding given that your sentence starts with 'ECG' and what follows are ECG parameters: heart rate, AV [atrioventricular] conduction, PR interval and a finding of no ischemic changes/abnormalities (also something that ECG can tell you).

When I have a chance I'll send some information about ECG findings.

ENRICO HONNORAT (asker) Nov 24, 2016:

Well, beginner not really ... My specialization is law (I'm an advocate as well), but I get everything these days, the last two are this medical nightmare and a slightly less nightmarish architectural one. Are we sure BiBd does not stand here for "basophilic inclusion body disease"? I see basophils being mentioned in the blood count section of the diagnostic tests that are part of this cluster of clinical files.

Joseph Tein Nov 24, 2016:

BiBD And you probably need this one?

BiBd = Blocco Incompleto di Branca Destra = Incomplete Right Bundle Branch Block = IRBBB

Bravo Enrico ... you've really jumped into a very challenging translation job for a beginner!