To get a job as a respiratory therapist, you must graduate from one of the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accredited respiratory therapist schools. There are a total of 355 schools with respiratory therapist programs that have been accredited, including 35 entry-level associate degree programs. The other 320 accredited programs are for bachelor’s or master’s degree programs, which are usually required for advancement. For a complete list of accredited programs, check the CAAHEP website, which is always kept up to date.

Respiratory therapist schools that have entry level programs are Black River Technical College and Southeast Arkansas College in Arkansas; California College San Diego, ConCorde Career College (North Hollywood and San Bernardino locations), Crafton Hills College, Simi Valley Adult School and Career Institute in California; Miami Dade University in Florida; Saint Augustine College in Illinois; Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas; Somerset Community College in Kentucky; Bossier Parish Community College, Louisiana State University at Eunice, Louisiana Technical College, Nicholls State University, Our Lady of Holy Cross and Our Lady of the Lake College in Louisiana; Monroe County Community College in Michigan; ConCorde Career College, Missouri Southern State University, and Sanford Brown College in Missouri; the Great Plains Technology Center in Oklahoma; Gwynedd-Mercy College, Harrisburg Area Community College, and York College of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania; ConCorde Career College and Walters State Community College in Tennessee; University of Texas Brownsville, US Army Medical Department Center and School and USAF School of Health Care Sciences in Texas; Weber State University in Utah; and Sargeant Reynolds Community College and Southwestern Virginia Community College in Virginia.

For those who are interested in respiratory therapist programs that have an online or distance option, there is only one accredited program, and that is at the California College of Health Sciences-Independence University in Salt Lake City, Utah.

To prepare to attend one of these respiratory therapist programs, you must study mathematics, chemistry, physics, health, and biology in high school. These will help prepare you for the courses you will need to take once you are accepted into one of the respiratory therapist degree colleges.

Once you have determined which of the respiratory therapist schools you want to attend (and have applied to and been accepted), you will study subjects such as application of clinical practice guidelines, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, chemistry, CPR, equipment, human anatomy, and physiology. , Mathematics, Microbiology, Pathophysiology, Patient Assessment, Outpatient Care, Pharmacology, Physics, Respiratory Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Tests and Procedures, and Medical Record Keeping and Reimbursement. Louis Zhang, respiratory therapist dot com