Start a meaningful career in Respiratory Care, where you’ll learn to use life-saving equipment and techniques to care for patients with heart and lung conditions, preparing you for a rewarding role in a high-demand healthcare field.
What is respiratory care
Respiratory Care is a specialized area of healthcare focused on evaluating, treating, and caring for patients with breathing and cardiopulmonary disorders. At Southeast, our Respiratory Care program is designed to prepare students for this vital role through a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience.
Students engage in a curriculum that combines foundational coursework in science and general education with practical training in our on-campus labs and through clinical rotations with local healthcare partners. This balanced approach ensures graduates are well-prepared to provide high-quality care in a variety of medical settings.
To maintain academic progress and meet program requirements, students must earn a grade of “C” or higher in all Respiratory Care courses.
Students completing this 18-month program will earn an Associate Degree in Applied Science in Respiratory Care and be qualified to take the national board examinations to earn the Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT) Credential and Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) Credential from the National Board of Respiratory Care.
Getting Started
What are my degree, diploma, and certificate options?
| Respiratory therapist AAS: 66-68 total credit hours | Requirements |
How Do I Pay For This?
What Else Do I Need to Know?
What Do Respiratory Therapists Do?
Respiratory Therapists assess patients for lung and breathing disorders and recommend treatment modalities. They analyze breath sounds, measure vital signs, draw arterial blood gasses, and perform chest physical exams while consulting with physicians to recommend modifications to therapies, based on the evaluation of the patient. They manage ventilators (breathing machines) and artificial airway devices (breathing tubes) for patients that can’t breathe normally on their own and Code Blues and other medical emergencies providing urgent care. Respiratory therapists educate patients and families about lung disease so they can maximize their recovery and improve their quality of life.
To learn more about the respiratory care profession and to see the kinds of jobs and work that RTs are doing, check out the links below.
- BeAnRT.org will take you to the American Association of Respiratory Care’s website for more information about being a Respiratory Therapist.
- MoreRTs.com shows short video clips of actual respiratory therapists and respiratory therapy students who filmed themselves talking about the profession, what they do, why they chose it, and what they love about it.
Program Goals
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).
Mission Statement
Accreditation
College Accreditation
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC).
Program Accreditation
The Respiratory Care Program 200624, located on our Whitesburg Campus, awards an Associate of Applied Science degree and is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (https://coarc.com/.
CoARC Programmatic Outcomes (The CoARC’s outcomes webpage)
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.
CoARC address (Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care)
264 Precision Blvd
Telford, TN 37690 USA
