Respiratory Care
Associate Degree
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**Due to high demand, enrollment is limited. Please consult your academic advisor for next available seating in this program and other possible opportunities.**
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.
Trident Technical College's respiratory program, located on the Thornley Campus in Charleston, SC, CoARC number 200008, Associate Degree program, is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC).
The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care 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:
- Information regarding membership into the professional organization - American Association for Respiratory Care
- Information regarding accreditation - Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) and CoARC Programmatic Outcomes
- Information regarding testing - The National Board for Respiratory Care
- Information regarding state licensure - SC Labor, Licensing, and Regulation
The Respiratory Care program goal is 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).
The following up to date vaccinations are currently required to attend clinic (these are clinical requirements and NOT Trident Technical College requirements):
- Tetanus within the past 10 years
- Measles, Mumps & Rubella (MMR)
- Varicella
- Hepatitis B series
- Meningitis within the past 5 years (waiver may be an option)
- COVID series
- Annual flu vaccine
Other Requirements:
- Laptop- all coursework will be done on the computer
- Negative background check
- Negative drug screen
- CPR certification
**These are subject to change based on the requirements of each clinical site.
**These costs are approximate and are subject to change**
| AARC membership | $25 per year |
| Health Physical | $150 (insurance may pay) |
| Vaccines and titers | $500 (insurance may pay) |
| TB test | $75 |
| Medical Insurance | $ varies |
| BLS (CPR) | $10 |
| Scrubs | $100 |
| Stethoscope | $50 |
| Background check | $50 per year |
| Drug screen | $40 per year |
| Online Learning for clinic | $40 per year |
| Liability Insurance | $40 per year |
| Clinical orientation | $40 per year |
| Board prep course | $425 |
| Practice board exams | $130 |
| Advanced Life Support and Pediatric Life Support | $40 |
| Limited License | $40 |
COVID-19 vaccines as well as other vaccines/immunizations/titers may be required for some health sciences programs in order to attend clinicals. Should immunizations and titers be required by a clinical affiliate and the student refuses to obtain the vaccines/immunizations/titers, this may impact the student’s ability to be assigned to certain clinical rotations, which may in turn impact the student’s ability to continue in the program.