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  Columbia, MO
  65211-6060

  Phone: 573.882.6801
  Fax: 573.882.5440

  career@missouri.edu

What Can I do With a Major

Major: Respiratory Therapy

Description of Major:

Respiratory therapists and respiratory therapy technicians—also known as respiratory care practitioners—evaluate, treat, and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. Respiratory therapists, practicing under physician direction, assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care therapeutic treatments and diagnostic procedures, including the supervision of respiratory therapy technicians. Respiratory therapy technicians follow specific, well-defined respiratory care procedures, under the direction of respiratory therapists and physicians. In clinical practice, many of the daily duties of therapists and technicians overlap, although therapists generally have greater responsibility than technicians. For example, respiratory therapists will primarily consult with physicians and other healthcare staff to help develop and modify individual patient care plans. Respiratory therapists are also more likely to provide complex therapy requiring considerable independent judgment, such as caring for patients on life support in hospital intensive care units.

(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos084.htm)

Related Career Titles:

Respiratory therapists
Respiratory therapy technicians
Registered nurses
Occupational therapists
Physical therapists
Radiation therapists
Certified Respiratory Therapist
Certified Respiratory Therapist Technician
Clinical Coordinator of Respiratory Therapy
Director Of Cardiopulmonary Services
Inhalation Therapist
Oxygen Therapist
Registered Respiratory Therapist
Respiratory Care Practitioner

Employment Areas:

Hospitals and Residential Care Facilities
Outpatient Health Care Services
Member Organizations
Home health care agencies
Nursing Homes
Self-Employed

 

Related Links:

American Association for Respiratory Care
http://www.aarc.org

National Board for Respiratory Care
http://www.nbrc.org

ADVANCE for Respiratory Care Practitioners
http://respiratory-care.advanceweb.com/main.aspx

American Thoracic Society
http://www.thoracic.org/

Missouri Society for Respiratory Care
http://msrc.pixeleffect.com/