This article on community interpreting embarks upon notes that were taken from reports of field supervision conducted at the Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1989 and aim to outline some of the difficulties encountered in community interpreting in the medical field. Most aspects seem to underline the inherent relationship between interpreting performance and psychological factors present in the environment at the time of the interpreting situation. These factors have a direct influence on the interpreter’s skills and can affect negatively his/her otherwise excellent language proficiency.