Respiratory Care
Respiratory Care Major
Respiratory Care (RC) is an allied health profession that involves the evaluation, treatment, and education of patients with cardiopulmonary (heart-lung) disorders. Respiratory therapists (RTs) work closely with physicians, nurses, and other allied health members in critical care, emergency rooms, newborn nurseries and pediatrics, medical units, and home care. RTs perform diagnostic tests that assist a physician to diagnose and monitor lung disease, administer a variety of treatments to alleviate breathing problems, manage mechanical ventilators and life support equipment, direct pulmonary rehabilitation activities, and educate patients and their families about their disease process, therapy and wellness.
A Bachelor of Science degree, Respiratory Care major, includes two to three years of academic course work on campus and a 15-month professional level internship in the Respiratory Care Department at Sanford Medical Center, Fargo, N.D. where students' class and clinical education is specifically applied to the practice of respiratory care. The NDSU/Sanford Respiratory Care Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoArc). RC graduates are eligible to write the national certifying examinations leading to the registered respiratory therapist (RRT) credential.
Academic course work includes chemistry, physics, anatomy and physiology, microbiology, college algebra, psychology, and computer science, in addition to general education courses. The full-time professional internship at Sanford consists of lecture, laboratory, and clinical education that prepares the student to enter the profession of respiratory care. Near the end of the professional program, students choose a specialty area of practice for a focused clinical experience. Common specialties include neonatal/pediatric general or intensive care, adult general or intensive care, diagnostics, pulmonary rehabilitation, home care, education, and management (RC 494 Individual Study).
Qualified students apply for the professional internship during the spring of the academic year they will complete all prerequisite courses. The application deadline is March 1 annually. Admission is selective and based upon successful completion of all prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of 'C' (a minimum of 20 resident credits at NDSU for transfer students), cumulative and "core" course grade point average (a minimum of 2.50 is required; a maximum of core course attempts is two), references, related experience, interview, and ability to meet program-designated technical standards. Students must also comply with criminal background and student conduct requirements.
Information about the profession, curriculum, internship, and advising contacts are available from the Department of Allied Sciences.
Major Requirements
Respiratory Care Major
Degree Type: B.S.
Required Degree Credits to Graduate: 128
General Education Requirements for Baccalaureate Degree
- A dynamic list of approved general education courses offered by term is available on the NDSU General Education Requirements website.
- General education courses may be used to satisfy requirements for both general education and the major, minor, and program emphases, where applicable. Students should carefully review the major, minor, and program emphases requirements for minimum grade restrictions, if applicable.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| First Year Experience (F) | 1 | |
| Skills For Academic Success (Also offered with the following prefixes: ABEN, AGRI, BUSN, HD&E, ME, NURS, PHRM) | ||
| Communication (C) | 12 | |
| College Composition I | ||
| College Composition II | ||
| Fundamentals of Public Speaking | ||
Upper Division Writing † | ||
| Quantitative Reasoning (R) † | 3 | |
| Science and Technology (S) † | 10 | |
| Humanities and Fine Arts (A) † | 6 | |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences (B) † | 6 | |
| Wellness (W) † | 2 | |
| Cultural Diversity (D) *† | ||
| Global Perspectives (G) *† | ||
| Total Credits | 40 | |
| * | May be satisfied by completing courses in another General Education category. |
| † | May be satisfied with courses required in the major. Review major requirements to determine if a specific upper division writing course is required. |
Major Requirements
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Respiratory Care Major Requirements | ||
| RC 200 | Introduction to Respiratory Care | 1 |
| RC 496 | Field Experience | 51 |
| RC 494 | Individual Study | 4 |
| Advanced clinicals including the capstone experience. | ||
| Related Courses Required: | ||
| BIOL 220 & 220L | Human Anatomy and Physiology I and Human Anatomy and Physiology I Laboratory (May satisfy a general education category S) | 4 |
| BIOL 221 & 221L | Human Anatomy and Physiology II and Human Anatomy and Physiology II Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM 121 & 121L | General Chemistry I and General Chemistry I Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM 122 & 122L | General Chemistry II and General Chemistry II Laboratory | 4 |
| CHEM 240 | Survey of Organic Chemistry | 3 |
| CHEM 260 | Elements of Biochemistry | 3 or 4 |
| or BIOC 460 | Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I | |
| CHP 125 | Medical Terminology for Health Professionals | 1 |
| CSCI 114 | Microcomputer Packages (May satisfy a general education category S) | 3 |
| or CSCI 116 | Business Use of Computers | |
| MATH 103 | College Algebra (or higher level; excluding MATH 104) | 3 |
| PHYS 120 | Fundamentals of Physics (May satisfy a general education category S) | 3 |
| PSYC 111 | Introduction to Psychology (May satisfy a general education category B) | 3 |
| STAT 330 | Introductory Statistics (May satisfy a general education category R) | 3 |
| Select one microbiology course & lab from the following: | 3-5 | |
| Introductory Microbiology and Introductory Microbiology Lab | ||
| General Microbiology and General Microbiology Lab | ||
| Special Major Electives (department approved) | ||
| Sociology: Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Sociology of Medicine | ||
| Sociology of Aging | ||
| Death and Dying | ||
| Communication: Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Business and Professional Speaking | ||
| Small Group Communication | ||
| Health Communication I | ||
| Patient-Provider Communication | ||
| Organizational Communication I | ||
| Interprofessional Health Care Practice | ||
| Total Credits | 103-106 | |
Degree Requirements and Notes
- All required courses must be completed with a grade of 'C' or above. All students must maintain a semester GPA of 2.0 or above for each semester in the College. A student who fails to meet this standard for two successive or three non-successive semesters may be terminated from enrollment in the College.
- Completion of the prerequisites does not guarantee a student internship. Selection of interns is competitive. Please consult your Respiratory Care advisor for more information.
- Core courses have a maximum of two attempts allowed. These include:
Course List Code Title Credits BIOL 220
& 220LHuman Anatomy and Physiology I
and Human Anatomy and Physiology I Laboratory4 PHYS 120 Fundamentals of Physics 3 BIOL 221
& 221LHuman Anatomy and Physiology II
and Human Anatomy and Physiology II Laboratory4 CHEM 121
& 121LGeneral Chemistry I
and General Chemistry I Laboratory4 CHEM 122
& 122LGeneral Chemistry II
and General Chemistry II Laboratory4 CHEM 240 Survey of Organic Chemistry 3 CHEM 260 Elements of Biochemistry 3 or 4 or BIOC 460 Foundations of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I MATH 103 College Algebra 3 CHP 125 Medical Terminology for Health Professionals 1 One microbiology course & lab from the following: 3-5 Introductory Microbiology
and Introductory Microbiology LabGeneral Microbiology
and General Microbiology Lab
