Respiratory Therapy

ASSOCIATE IN SPECIALIZED TECHNOLOGY DEGREE PROGRAM

Pittsburgh Career Institute offers achievement-oriented individuals the opportunity to earn an Associate’s Degree in Respiratory Therapy in as little as 23 months. Our goal is to help those who want to become Respiratory Therapists to acquire the education they need for a lifelong career in the field.

Throughout this program, instruction will include:

Respiratory Care Planning
Anatomy & Physiology
Aerosol Treatments
Mechanical Ventilation Management
Respiratory Therapy Equipment Knowledge
Home Care Services
EKGs
Neonatal and Pediatric Respiratory Therapy
Much more

The Respiratory Therapy curriculum includes lecture, didactic, and clinical applications. Students attend “clinicals” during their didactic courses, which begins following the first 30 weeks of instruction. This section requires competencies, logs, and evaluations to be completed by students.

Program Goals

All graduates of the PCI Respiratory Therapy Program are expected to meet the following core competencies:

Qualified to begin in an entry-level Respiratory Therapist position
Models the values and ethics of a Respiratory Therapist
Able to utilize technology and information resources appropriately
Effective communicators with patients, their families, and team members
Able to work collaboratively with other health professionals and physicians

By the end of the course, students should be able to demonstrate satisfactory knowledge in:

Basic human anatomy and physiology
Medical terminology
Health and safety regulations and standards
Pathophysiology of cardiopulmonary diseases
Aerosol treatments
Lung expansion procedures
Bronchial hygiene procedures
Management of mechanical ventilation
Allied health sciences including communication skills, medical law and ethics, physics, chemistry, and microbiology

Potential Places of Work

Upon graduation, those who have worked diligently, attended class and successfully completed their clinical externship, should be prepared to take the Certified Respiratory Therapy (CRT) examination. Upon earning a passing score, graduates will be qualified to seek entry-level employment at a variety of facilities including:

Hospitals
Acute Care Facilities
Infant & Pediatric Facilities
Sleep Disorder Centers
Long-term care facilities
Transport teams
Pulmonary rehabilitation centers

*PCI cannot guarantee employment or salary.

PROGRAM HANDBOOK

Download the Respiratory Therapy Program Handbook.

PROGRAMMATIC ACCREDITATION

The Respiratory Therapy AST degree program is programmatically accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC).

Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented. Programmatic outcomes data reported on the CoARC website, which is available by selecting the CoARC link below.