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  • Respiratory Care student.
    96% Graduate Employment/Transfer rate
    That's right! Ninety-six percent of SCC's 2021 graduates found work or continued their education.
    Graduate Report
     Health Sciences Animated Walk Through.
    Health Sciences Animated Walk Through. 
    Angie Poppenhagen.
    Faculty Spotlight - Angie Poppenhagan
    Providing resources, breaking down concepts help students find relevance of content they’re learning.
    Respiratory Care student.
    96% Graduate Employment/Transfer rate
    That's right! Ninety-six percent of SCC's 2021 graduates found work or continued their education.
    Graduate Report
    Respiratory Care student.
    96% Graduate Employment/Transfer rate
    That's right! Ninety-six percent of SCC's 2021 graduates found work or continued their education.
    Graduate Report
     

Respiratory Care

  •  Estimated Cost: $10,698.50

    Program Length: 4 semesters

    Locations: Lincoln / Online + Labs

    Start Term(s): Fall / Spring

    Awards Offered: AAS

    Program Description

    Let out a deep breath and discover a career as a respiratory therapist. Respiratory therapy is a demanding career that requires dedicated, caring professionals and our program is here to make you a part of it. You will complete a comprehensive curriculum which will prepare you to take the National Board for Respiratory Care exams and apply for state licensure.

    You have the option of completing our Respiratory Care program as a traditional, full-time track or online, part-time track student. Traditional students take face-to-face classes, labs and clinical rotations in Lincoln. Part-time students take online classes with lab and clinical rotations completed at a local medical center.

    Request More Information

    Our program prepares you to become a competent practitioner who can evaluate, treat and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. You will be a successful respiratory therapist if you:

    • are a detail-oriented, inquisitive person able to work on a team
    • provide quality care with respect and dignity for the patient and their family
    • are about to communicate effectively (both verbal and written)
    • are able to make quick decisions based on logic and analytical skills
    • have good math skills
    • have the ability to work under stress
    • are an abstract thinker in order to understand concepts
    • are a person of character with honesty and integrity
    • believe people are worthy of the best medical care

    START HERE: Please follow the steps on the Get Started Checklist (PDF) to complete the program application process.

    Admissions Resources:

    Learn more about the Respiratory Care profession. Watch Life and Breath – A Presentation of the Respiratory Therapy Career then complete the Professional Awareness (PDF) activity.

    Respiratory therapy is a wonderful, diverse career choice and the need for therapists is great. As a respiratory therapist, you will follow specific, well-defined respiratory care procedures under the direction of a physician. These procedures include administering medical gases, aerosol and inhaled medications, applying ventilator support, and testing techniques used in diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. Recent SCC graduates report an average annual starting salary of $53,456.

    The Southeast Community College Respiratory Care program (Program Number: 200261) is accredited by:

    coarcLogo-webCommission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
    264 Precision Blvd.
    Telford, TN 37690
    817-283-2835

    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.

    Respiratory Care program outcome data.

    The Respiratory Care curriculum is accepted in all 50 states. This program is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). Students successfully completing this program will sit for the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) exam.
    Southeast Community College is a State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement Institution (NC-SARA) institution. As such, SCC is unable to offer online or distance courses to students in the following areas at this time: American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

    Todd Klopfenstein, Program Chair, M.A.S., RRT
    402-437-2781
    tklopfenstein@southeast.edu

    Kris Lewis, Clinical Director, RRT, MSHPE
    402-437-2811
    klewis@southeast.edu

    Kelly Cummins, RRT, MSOM
    402-437-2780
    kcummins@southeast.edu

    Angela Poppenhagen, BS, RRT, RPSGT
    402-437-2782
    apoppenhagen@southeast.edu

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    For more information about the post-graduation achievements of SCC Graduates as well as average starting salaries, refer to the annual Graduate Report.

    For information about the methodologies used to gather the post-graduation student achievement data contained in the annual Graduate Report, refer to the Institutional Research page or contact ir@southeast.edu.