You NEED TO KNOW THIS BEFORE you're a RESPIRATORY THERAPIST | MY PATH TO PA - Sam Kelly

I thought it would be great to share my insight on thing you need to know before you become a respiratory therapist! Are you in RT school? Thinking about becoming a registered respiratory therapist or certified respiratory therapist? these are thing you need to know before you're a respiratory therapist! These are all things i wish i knew before i was an RT and would not have been a make it or break it thing to decider to be RT but rather just more informational going into the profession:)

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[SamKellyPA]

Sharing all the things I wish I knew before I became an RT! What do you think?! If you’re an RT student did you know all this stuff? If you’re an RT do you agree?!

[bobnicholas]

Been an Respiratory Care Practitioner in Indiana for 27 years. I keep my explanation simple. When someone is dying or can't breath they call me to save their life... I have been fortunate because we have protocols and I can access patients and write orders for their treatments. You should shadow some respiratory therapist or whatever they are called in your state. It takes a certain personality to do this job. You will see people die. You will be stressed and sectioning and smelling things you are not supposed to smell. For the most part there is not much advancement. You need to really like it. I will act grumpy but I still like what I do. Don't expect a lot of thank yous. Along the way you will have great experiences with other health care professionals and patients. PTSD is something to deal with especially in peds and nicu...

[manxkin]

I worked as a Respiratory Therapist for 37 years prior to retiring. CRT, RRT, RCP. RT's have my utmost respect. We are often the unsung heros.

[lindsayhengehold]

My mom was a Registered Respiratory Therapist for many years & this vocation is so integral for the medical industry.

[biebslovr]

Just finished my 1st semester this week at an accredited Community college, 4 more semesters left!

[NoHypebeastZay]

We as RT’s definitely need to be paid more. At least be competitive with nursing. They should take notice especially after the pandemic how valuable we truly are.

[melissa]

Thank you! I was going to go to nursing school, but the autonomy of RT really appeals to me!

[violetmonroe]

Just got into a respiratory therapy program and starting this August. I'm definitely taking notes 📝😌

[cynthiamorgan]

The CSE exam is very difficult to pass, I can't believe i failed after studying with so many materials😞

[mrfeathers]

You will NOT need a Bachelors degree for RT anytime soon. There are RTs who have been working for 36 years and don’t even have a commenter degree at all, and those people are way more likely to get a job over any bachelors degree RT new grad. I think this girl is just a little tilted that she went to school for 6 years and makes the exact same salary as someone who went to school for 18 months. All the other info is correct, though.

[beatnikmumrik]

I'm going for an AAS in Respiratory Therapy. I'm coming from a fine arts background, but I feel as if helping people have a better quality of life will be loads more rewarding.

[ZGG]

Born at 25 wks our daughter had a long 3 mos. Stay in the NICU. We saw alot of people including her respiratory therapist. The ones we saw the most were one of our favorites to see. They were so sweet and you could tell they just adored our babies. It was really hard to see our daughter go through so much at such a young age and her RT definitely helped explain a lot and was very gentle with her little face. It looks like a tough job, especially dealing with babies taking her mask on and off changing between to two. With her being so little and doing it with lots of care. The NICU is a difficult place to be. I know they see a lot of good and a lot of very sad we did and weren’t caring for the others so I can imagine. We really appreciate what you all do and they care you do it with. ❤

[marwanabdulla]

I'm a registered respiratory therapist from the philippines. Our profession is very underrated

[petersullivan]

I did want to do Respiratory Therapy, but there are so many more job openings in nursing and nursing is very versatile.

[jessiegavin]

I’ve been an RT for 6 years now. I see this soooo much! I’ve also been told that CRT is becoming obsolete. Many hospitals only want you to have your RRt credentials.

[jakesmith]

I’m actually in the process of doing what you are doing lol... I have a couple of months left of RT school. Studying for my boards right now and then finishing up my bachelors degree. My goal is to get my ACCS done as well before applying for PA school. I’ve heard that doing RT before PA school actually benefited them a lot because of our knowledge of critical care situations.

[Jessica-dxgz]

My AAS in Respiratory Care program required about 1.5-2 years of general courses that they recommended you take before you apply to the program for two reasons: 1) having these courses completed gave you additional points in the competitive scoring process for admission to the program, and 2) completing these courses during the program would put you well over full-time and be difficult to manage, especially if you have other obligations. They also strongly suggested students not work during the program even if you had already completed your general ed courses. Your Bachelors degree program sounds pretty similar to what I did but with better results. Nice planning.

[jorgegonzalez]

Thanks for sharing! Just got accepted to RT school starting in August. Familiar RT duties, currently work in ICU unit. Can’t wait learn much starting school!

[praetorianstride]

Thank you for your advice! I am going to continue to see if this is a fit for me. I am hopelessly empathetic for humanity, and believe that the breath is life. I currently do concrete work because it pays well and because of the strength associated with working 12 hour days, but can’t see it being forever. So I will study. Already have most of my Gen Ed’s out of the way, so I need to focus on my weaknesses. I appreciate the words!

[zeexoxo]

I have my bachelors in Health. Now, I’m applying for RT (associates) 🥰