RESPIRATORY THERAPY

As a respiratory therapist, you will help people of all ages—from newborns to elderly—who have heart and lung diseases.

• Respiratory therapists focus on cardiopulmonary issues. Break down the word into its parts and we have:
  • Cardio= heart
  • Pulmonary= lung

You'll be a valuable member of the health care team determining a patient's status, administering respiratory medications, drawing and analyzing blood samples, and working with various types of life support equipment.

• You can complete Lakeland's respiratory therapy program in five semesters.
• When you successfully complete the program, you can sit for the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) exam which is a nationally-recognized credential signifying excellence in the field.
• The RRT credential must be submitted as part of the application for licensure to work as a respiratory therapist in the state of Ohio.

Both fields take commitment to succeed but differ in their focus.

• As a respiratory therapist, you will focus on the heart and lungs.
• Nurses focus on the body as a whole.

Yes! Respiratory therapy is one of the healthcare jobs that is hiring. Employment of respiratory therapists is projected to grow 19 percent through 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Respiratory Therapists,
at https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/respiratory-therapists.htm (visited July 1, 2021).

Here are some of the paths Lakeland respiratory therapy students have taken:

• cardiac and pulmonary stress testing in outpatient laboratories and in-hospital laboratories
• clinical education
• home care
• intensive care: neonatal/pediatric, medical/surgical
• medical law
• medical school
• nurse anesthetist
• nurse practitioner
• organ transplant team members
• pharmaceuticals
• polysomnography (sleep study technician)
• pulmonary rehabilitation
• physician's assistant
• respiratory care in area hospitals, subacute care facilities, and long-term care facilities
• sales/marketing
• supervisory/management/administration
• transport/emergency care team members
• vascular lab technology

Are Scholarships Available?

Fill out a FAFSA and indicate school code 006804 for Lakeland.

Once you are in the Lakeland system, you may be eligible for many scholarships and grants. Lakeland recently received a new grant to provide scholarships for specific health programs, including the respiratory therapy program. Start planning early to be able to meet the tuition deadlines for each semester. Visit Lakeland's Financial Aid department website for more information.

To prepare graduates with demonstrated competence in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains of respiratory care practice as performed by registered respiratory therapists (RRTs). View our list of essential skills and technical standards for students.

In June 2020 and 2021, the program was recognized by CoARC to receive the Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award. The CoARC board used objective criteria based on key accreditation metrics to select programs for the recognition. Among these were maintaining an RRT credentialing success of 90% or above among Lakeland's respiratory therapy graduates for the past three years.

In 2022, Lakeland's Respiratory Therapy Program was one of only 23 programs in the nation that have been recognized by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) to receive the President's Award for Credentialing Success. This is the highest achievable award given by the commission and is presented as part of CoARC's continued efforts to value the Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credential as a standard of professional achievement.

The Associate of Applied Science degree in respiratory therapy at Lakeland Community College, Kirtland, Ohio is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) (Program #200242) www.coarc.com, 264 Precision Blvd., Telford, TN 37690; phone: 817.283.2835. Programmatic outcomes are available at https://coarc.com/students/programmatic-outcomes-data.

CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcomes based' process. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the educational goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented.

 CoARC is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).  www.chea.org