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Respiratory therapists evaluate and treat patients with cardiopulmonary disorders. This includes everything from chromic lung diseases, like asthma or emphysema, and breathing problems that occur along with heart attacks or strokes.
They work under the direction of the patient's primary care physician. Respiratory therapists can also be called respiratory care practitioners. - Respiratory therapists are sometimes refereed to as respiratory technicians. While the job duties of a respiratory technician and a therapist often overlap they are very different jobs. Technicians most often work under the direction of a respiratory therapist. They do not work as closely with primary care physicians as respiratory therapists normally do.
- The majority of respiratory therapists make between $41,000 and $56,000 a year. It is a high demand job and respiratory therapists are in demand across the country. On top of this there is a certain amount of personal satisfaction and prestige associated with working in the medical arts.
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In order to become a respiratory therapist an associate's degree is needed. However there are very few job opportunities for respiratory therapists with this basic level of education. A bachelor's degree is required for most respiratory therapy jobs in hospitals and to truly advance in the field a masters degree may be necessary.
Almost 79% of respiratory therapists work in hospital settings according to the Department of Labor. Other positions may be found in the offices of large scale private physicians, at nursing homes, or at medical supply and rental firms that supply respiratory equipment for home use. Job opportunities for respiratory therapists are currently very good and are expected to remain strong in the foreseeable future. The vast majority of new jobs will be in hospital settings. - An associate's degree in respiratory therapy can be obtained in about two years though most people interested in this field will spend four years to obtain a Bachelor's degree.
- Like many jobs in the medical field the amount of money a respiratory therapist can expect to make varies wildly depending on where in the country they choose to work. All states except for Alaska and Hawaii require respiratory therapists to be licensed and each have specific licensing requirements that have to be met.
