About the Program
The OTC Respiratory Therapy program will prepare the students to:
- Demonstrate competence in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills) and affective (behavior) learning domains of respiratory care practice as performed by registered respiratory therapists (RRTs)
- Provide mechanical ventilation
- Understand critical care diagnostics
- Understand respiratory pharmacology
- Practice clinical application of knowledge
- Provide care for critically ill patients
History of the OTC program – Click here to learn about the Respiratory Therapy program that dates back almost 50 years
Accreditation
The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) accredits the OTC Respiratory Therapy program number 200351. The OTC Respiratory Therapy program has also been a multi-recipient of the Distinguished RRT Credentialing Success Award from CoARC. The primary criteria for this award requires an accredited program to achieve 90% or higher RRT credentialing success for the most recent three-year graduate cohorts and to have met attrition and job placement thresholds. We are the only Associate level program in the United States to receive this award five separate times and the 2009 CoARC Excellence in Respiratory Care Education Award. You can find program outcome data from CoARC here.
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.
Career Options
Respiratory therapists evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. The respiratory therapist also treats a variety of patient types including premature infants whose lungs are not fully developed, children with asthma, elderly people whose lungs are diseased and victims of heart attacks.
Employment Outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that the employment outlook for respiratory therapists is expected to increase faster than average for all occupations.
Contact Us
Email any questions to burkb@otc.edu or contact the Health Sciences office in Lincoln Hall, room 210, on the OTC Springfield campus, (417) 447-8803, 447-8804, or 447-8954.