A respiratory therapist is a specialized health care practitioner trained in critical care and cardio-pulmonary medicine in order to work therapeutically with people suffering from acute critical conditions, cardiac and pulmonary disease. Respiratory therapists graduate from a college or university with a degree in respiratory therapy and have passed a national board certifying examination. The NBRC (National Board for Respiratory Care) is the not-for-profit organization responsible for credentialing the seven areas of Respiratory Therapy in the United States.

Those seven areas of Respiratory Therapy include, as of December 2017: CRT (Certified Respiratory Therapist), RRT (Registered Respiratory Therapist), CPFT and RPFT (Certified or Registered Pulmonary Function Technologist), ACCS (Adult Critical Care Specialist), NPS (Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist), and SDS (Sleep Disorder Specialist).

Respiratory therapists work in hospitals in the intensive care units (Adult, Pediatric, and Neonatal), on hospital floors, in Emergency Departments, in Pulmonary Functioning laboratories (PFTs), are able to intubate patients, work in sleep labs (polysomnography) (PSG) labs, and in home care specifically DME (Durable Medical Equipment) and home oxygen.

Respiratory therapists are specialists and educators in many areas including cardiology, pulmonology, and sleep therapy. Respiratory therapists are clinicians trained in advanced airway management; establishing and maintaining the airway during management of trauma, and intensive care.

Respiratory therapists initiate and manage life support for people in intensive care units and emergency departments, stabilizing, treating and managing pre-hospital and hospital-to-hospital patient transport by air or ground ambulance.

In the outpatient setting respiratory therapists work as educators in asthma clinics, ancillary clinical staff in pediatric clinics, and sleep-disorder diagnosticians in sleep-clinics, they also serve as clinical providers in cardiology clinics and cath-labs, as well as working in pulmonary rehabilitation.

For more information please visit the Be An RT website.

Why be a Respiratory Therapist?

See what these professional Respiratory Therapists have to say:
Be An RT – It’s A Solid Career
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MWSU nursing students learning CPR

Click here to view the course requirements in the MWSU Course Catalog.

CoARC granted approval of intent on 12/17/21. Final accreditation pending

The Respiratory Therapy (RT) program has a selective entrance policy.  Application to the program is made separately from application for admission to Missouri Western.  Applicants must meet the following minimum requirements:

  • The applicant must have a minimum overall cumulative GPA of 2.5 (Contact Program Director if GPA is below a 2.5 and interested in becoming a respiratory therapist).
  • The TEAS test, better known as the “Test of Essential Academic Skills,” is an entry-level exam which measures the current aptitude level of an individual seeking entry into the field of Health Sciences.  The Respiratory Therapy program strongly encourages you to take this test in order to determine if you would have a high likelihood of academic success as indicated by a test result of 58.7% or above.  The program may use the TEAS results when selecting students for admission; taking the TEAS could be advantageous in the selection process especially if other required criteria is absent.
  • The applicant must have completed or currently enrolled in all general studies and respiratory therapy support courses (and earn a grade of C or higher in each support class, as well as MAT 110 Contemporary Problem Solving, MAT 110E Contemporary Problem Solving, MAT 112 Finite Mathematics, or MAT 116 College Algebra).  (Contact Program Director if lacking one of the required support courses.)
  • The review of applications includes assessment of resume, letter of intent and personal statement and unofficial transcripts.  Deadlines for applications for preferred admittance is May 15th.  (Acceptance of applications after May 15th will occur until cohort is full or until one week prior to beginning of semester.)

Major: B.S. Respiratory Therapy