Respiratory Therapy

Associate of Applied Science Degree

Available at: Windward Campus

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Program Overview

Respiratory Therapy is a health sciences specialty employed in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with breathing disorders. Respiratory Therapists provide therapeutic and diagnostic services for pediatric and adult clients within hospitals and in the home care setting.

Program Goal Expectations

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).

Technical Standards

Students will be expected to have the skills and abilities to meet the standards described below:

Physical demands

• Lift at least 25 pounds of weight
• Frequent or prolonged walking/standing
• Reaching, stooping, bending, kneeling or crouching

Motor skills

• Perform multiple motor tasks simultaneously
• Fine and gross motor skills sufficient to handle equipment and provide safe and effective patient care
• Steady arm and hand movements while manipulating objects or assisting patients.

Tactile

• Tactile ability sufficient to assess patient’s response to therapy

Visual

• Ability sufficient to monitor and assess patient and equipment function and to provide safe and effective respiratory care
• Near acuity – ability to see clearly at 20 inches or less
• Far acuity – ability to see clearly at 20 feet or more
• Field of vision – able to see peripherally
• Depth perception – able to judge distance
• Color vision – able to distinguish and identify different colors

Hearing

• Ability sufficient to hear and understand patients and staff
• Hear normal speech
• Hear without seeing lips
• Hear faint body sounds
• Hear auditory alarms

Curriculum

• Respiratory Therapy, Associate of Applied Science

As required by 34 CFR 668.43(c): Del Mar College has not yet made the determination if the curriculum of Respiratory Therapy, Associate in Applied Science, meets the educational requirements for licensure or certification in any U.S. Territory or state other than Texas.

Accreditation

Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)

The on-campus, entry-level Associate of Applied Science in Respiratory Care program (CoARC #200149) is fully accredited by The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care. The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care. CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States and provides outcome data for all its accredited programs. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the goals of the program effectiveness are documented. Programmatic outcome data reported on the CoARC website include a 3-year time period reported on RRT credentialing success, achievement of the high cut score on the TMC exam, retention (attrition), job placement, overall graduate satisfaction, the total number of program enrollees, total number of program graduates, and maximum annual enrollment. This information can be found on the CoARC’s outcomes webpage.

Careers