Respitory therapist or paramedic?

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THeCruiser

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I just recently passed national registry for emtb. MY plan was to get experience and then go to paramedic school. But after reading that post from the doctor on scrubs, I might consider being an rt. Can anyone give me some info on the schooling involved? can I take online classes?what is the pay like?>
 
Talk to Vent Medic, you can PM her if you want specifics but I'm sure she'll see this thread soon. Trying to stay away from jumping to conclusions here but make sure if you decide on that route it's for the right reason as you haven't really touched on any of them in the questions you asked.
 
marineman said:
Talk to Vent Medic, you can PM her if you want specifics but I'm sure she'll see this thread soon. Trying to stay away from jumping to conclusions here but make sure if you decide on that route it's for the right reason as you haven't really touched on any of them in the questions you asked.
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because emtb is a stepping stone job ......I need to know which direction to go in. or were you asking about the reason im in it in the first place?
 
Personally, after looking at both options, I decided to go with RT. If I can get all my ducks lined up, I'm hoping to start this next fall. Part of it was realizing just how much more in depth RT is into the A and B than medic, and part of it was that job opportunities are better for RTs than paramedics where I live, and I don't really want to move. (Plus I have no desire to get into nursing, which is the most common step up from EMT career-wise in these parts.)

RT programs are usually 2 years. It depends on the college on if you can take any of the classes online -- you probably can for the more general classes. The place I'm looking at includes some psych classes, for example, that I should be able to do.

Pay is, unsurprisingly, in general better than EMS.
 
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Respiratory Therapist:

Minimum of an Associates degree in Respiratory Therapy.
Bachelors degree in Cardiopulmonary or Respiratory Therapy preferred in some areas.

Two national exams:
Certified Respiratory Therapist
Resgistered Respiratory Therapist.


National Credentialling board:
http://www.nbrc.org/

National professional association:
www.aarc.org

Sample degrees:

Associates of Science:
http://www.spcollege.edu/program/RESC-AS

Bachelors of Science

http://www.catalog.sdes.ucf.edu/degree_programs/cardiopulmonary_sciences.pdf

http://llu.edu/llu/documents/2007-08universitycatalog.pdf#page=199

Respiratory Therapy is a specialty. You've got to love patient care and educating. You must be able to interact well with all levels of the many professionals within a hospital. You must be able to work well in emergency situations for many hours at a time. You must be able to handle many emergency situations simultaneously for many hours at a time.
 
VentMedic said:
Respiratory Therapy is a specialty. You've got to love patient care and educating. You must be able to interact well with all levels of the many professionals within a hospital. You must be able to work well in emergency situations for many hours at a time. You must be able to handle many emergency situations simultaneously for many hours at a time.
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To the OP that's what I meant by the right reasons, at that point you can't be doing it for money or because it's an easier level to achieve than something else.
 
yowzer said:
RT programs are usually 2 years. It depends on the college on if you can take any of the classes online -- you probably can for the more general classes. The place I'm looking at includes some psych classes, for example, that I should be able to do.

Pay is, unsurprisingly, in general better than EMS.
Click to expand...

National standard is a minimum of a two year degree to sit for the national board for credentialing.

Only the general education classes can be taken online for entry level. Once you have an Associates degree and are nationally credentialed, you may be able to advance to Bachelors and Masters level online.
 
VentMedic said:
Respiratory Therapist:

Minimum of an Associates degree in Respiratory Therapy.
Bachelors degree in Cardiopulmonary or Respiratory Therapy preferred in some areas.

Two national exams:
Certified Respiratory Therapist
Resgistered Respiratory Therapist.


National Credentialling board:
http://www.nbrc.org/

National professional association:
www.aarc.org

Sample degrees:

Associates of Science:
http://www.spcollege.edu/program/RESC-AS

Bachelors of Science

http://www.catalog.sdes.ucf.edu/degree_programs/cardiopulmonary_sciences.pdf

http://llu.edu/llu/documents/2007-08universitycatalog.pdf#page=199

Respiratory Therapy is a specialty. You've got to love patient care and educating. You must be able to interact well with all levels of the many professionals within a hospital. You must be able to work well in emergency situations for many hours at a time. You must be able to handle many emergency situations simultaneously for many hours at a time.
Click to expand...

Vent's right about working well in emergency situations; especially depending on the size of your hospital. If it's small enough, you just might be it for the whole shift.

I grew up in the profession in a rural hospital (150 bed) with all 4 ICU beds with vents, 8 bed ER with MI's, CHF'ers, COPD'ers, and asthmatics all night long, stat C-sections, and 29 weekers with developoing HMD in NICU during RSV season filling the floors up.

You need to be able to prioritize, critically think, and think in multiple dimensions as well as multi-task.

Hopefully, welcome to the field.
 
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