Skip to main content

Respiratory Care

Associate Degree

Respiratory Care

Important Links

Health Sciences Online Application

Respiratory Care Program Associate in Applied Science Curriculum

What can I do in respiratory care?

Respiratory therapists focus on the treatment, management, control, evaluation and care of patients who have trouble breathing. They care for patients with chronic respiratory disease, such as asthma or emphysema, as well as patients who suffer from heart attacks, sleep apnea, shock or other problems that may affect breathing.

What characteristics and skills do I need to work in this field?

Success requires individuals to enjoy working with people and be able to think quickly and make decisions in stressful situations. Therefore, being detail oriented and having strong problem-solving skills are important. These professionals should be self-motivated and have good communications skills. It’s also important to be compassionate and sensitive when dealing with patients and their families.

Where can I work?

Respiratory therapists work with patients (newborn to geriatric) who have acute and chronic lung conditions. As a respiratory therapist you will be able to work in the intensive care unit, in the emergency department, in doctor’s offices, in patients' homes, and even on the flight team.

What does Trident Technical College offer?

Trident Technical College’s Respiratory Care program prepares students for employment as advanced-level respiratory care practitioners. The program is accredited, and graduates are eligible to take national certificate and registry exams.

Accreditation

Respiratory care practitioners help in the evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart, lung or renal problems. The patients may be adults, children, infants or newborns.

The Respiratory Care program at Trident Technical College is an accredited two-year associate degree program. Graduates from this program are registry-eligible.

The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (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.

The following sites are not affiliated with TTC but provide helpful information about the respiratory care field: