Respiratory Care, Associate of Applied Science Degree

Offered at the Piedmont Summerville Site.

Program Purpose: The respiratory care associate degree is a sequence of courses that prepares students for careers in the field of respiratory care. Learning opportunities develop academic and professional knowledge and skills required for job acquisition, retention, and advancement. Emphasis is placed upon specialized training in areas such as patient assessment, diagnostic procedures, pharmacology, medical gas therapy, humidity and aerosol therapy, mechanical ventilation, hyperinflation therapy, airway clearance, adult critical respiratory care, and pediatric and neonatal respiratory care. High school graduation or GED is required for admission to this program.

Credit Hours Required for Graduation: 78-81

Admission: Respiratory Care is a competitive program. Students who meet the College admission criteria are eligible to enroll at the College in the Interdisciplinary Studies program to take prerequisite courses for this program. Prerequisite courses (COLL 1060, ENGL 1101, MATH 1111 or MATH 1101, BIOL 2113, BIOL 2113L, BIOL 2114, BIOL 2114L, BIOL 2117, BIOL 2117L, PSYC 1101, CHEM 1211 CHEM 1211L or CHEM 1151, CHEM 1151L must be completed with a minimum GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale by the designated deadlines to be evaluated for program admission. Students are REQUIRED to attend an informational session during the ranking cycle prior to consideration for acceptance into competitive admission programs. Instructors will hold recruitment fairs/informational sessions on a rolling basis throughout the admissions cycle, January - May.

The academic ranking order for admission to the program is determined using the most recent grade for the prerequisite courses. Students can retake a class to earn a higher grade. Students who are not selected for admission may consider a program change or resubmit an admission application and a new Competitive Ranking Application by the designated deadline for the next ranking cycle. High school graduation or GED is required for admission to this program. For more information regarding this process, please contact the Admissions office at (706) 771-4028. Refer to program related deadlines.

Program Goal: The minimum expectation goal of the program 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).