Respiratory Therapy

12th Annual OTC Respiratory Care Seminar

The 2013 OTC Respiratory Care Seminar will be November 1, 2013. Registration will open up between late August and early October. Email notifications will be sent out when registration is open. Registration will be limited to around 190 participants so early registration is key to being able to participate in the conference.

Respiratory Therapy

Of all the complex systems of the human body, few are as important as the respiratory system. From monitoring infants in the neonatal intensive care unit to assessing the health of the elderly, respiratory therapists play a crucial role in the well-being of their patients and as such, you are a very important part of the medical community.

This Associate of Applied Science Program provides the best of both worlds; interesting, informative coursework and exciting on-site practicums. The classwork includes general education courses, as well as in-depth, program-specific courses. The combination of both types of courses makes you the well-rounded, knowledgeable respiratory therapist employers want. The classwork forms a strong base for the on-site practicums, where you get the real life experience you need to be skilled and confident in this career.

The respiratory care program's primary goals are to prepare graduates to function as safe and competent respiratory care practitioners and attain the credential of RRT (registered respiratory therapist). We are fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). In July, 2009, our program was one of only a few in the nation to receive the "Excellence in Education Award" from CoARC. The primary criteria for this award was based on accredited programs achieving 90% or higher RRT credentialing success for their most recent three-year graduate cohort. Programs must also have met attrition and job placement thresholds. Only 10 programs in the United States out of approximately 400 met these criteria and received this award.

The process to become a Registered Respiratory Therapist or RRT involves successfully passing three exams administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care or NBRC. The first exam is the Certified Respiratory Therapist or CRT exam, the second is the Written Registered Respiratory Therapist or WRRT exam, and the third is the Clinical Simulation Exam or CSE.

In our three-year cohort of graduates from the years 2008-2010, 46/48 or 96% are now RRTs. In addition, our first time or first attempt pass rates on the three NBRC exams far exceed the national average. Shown below are the first attempt pass rates for our 2008-2010 cohort of 48 graduates:

OTC First Attempt Pass rates

Exam	OTC	National Average
CRT	100% (48/48)	80%
WRRT	96% (44/46)	70%
CSE	89% (41/46)	60%

You can see all CoARC Programmatic Outcomes Data by clicking on this link http://www.coarc.com/47.html

Student research is also an important part of our program. We are one of only a handful of programs performing clinical research at the community college level. In the past five years we have had 18 abstracts published in Respiratory Care, the official journal of the American Association for Respiratory Care. Click on the Research link below to access a few selected abstracts.

The Respiratory Therapy Program at OTC is a selective admission program, which admits a new 20-student class each summer. Deadline for the summer class is February 15th.

The following information will help you get started. Before you begin the application process, please read the Admissions Checklist.

Important Links

Application Forms

Below you will find the necessary forms to apply to the Respiratory Therapy program. These forms must be filled out and received in the Allied Health Office on or before February 15 to be considered a candidate in the program.

Ozarks Technical
Community College