The OTC Respiratory Therapy Program prepares students for work in healthcare settings as respiratory therapists. Respiratory therapists evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing issues or other cardiopulmonary disorders. They also treat a variety of other patients such as premature infants whose lungs are not fully developed, children with asthma, elderly people whose lungs are diseased and victims of heart attacks. The program gives students a thorough understanding of both critical care diagnostics and respiratory pharmacology. Graduates will be prepared to apply the skills they have learned in a clinical setting.

The Associate of Applied Science program allows students to quickly earn their degrees and enter the workforce. This is a limited and selective enrollment program, which admits a new class each summer. Graduates can immediately seek state licensure and will be qualified to take the national registry exam. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the employment outlook for respiratory therapists is expected to increase faster than average for all occupations. Our graduates typically find work in hospitals, sleep labs or home health companies.

The Respiratory Therapy program’s mission is to graduate competent respiratory care practitioners by providing a high quality, academic and clinical education with an emphasis in critical thinking skills and patient safety. The Respiratory Therapy program will provide each graduate with the skills necessary to potentially make a difference in the lives of patients seeking treatment in a health care facility.

The Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC), program number 200351, Associate of Applied Science degree at the Springfield, MO campus, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC).

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.

Please click here to find the CoARC program outcome data.