Skyline College is now providing students with the opportunity to obtain a four year bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care.

Skyline College already offers an associate degree in Respiratory Care, but Skyline has recently selected to offer a bachelor’s degree. The four year program allows students and recent graduates the opportunity to obtain a B.A., with no need to transfer to a four year college.

For general reasons, there are many people out there that may not know what the meaning of Respiratory Care is. They ask questions such as: Why does it exist in people’s daily lives?

Why should we take advantage of this care?

What do people do in this field of work?

Respiratory Care is a field focused on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases related to the respiratory system, the lungs and breathing.

There are two main levels that these practitioners work with, acute and chronic diseases. The first, acute, includes diseases like pneumonia, where care and treatment exist. The second one is chronic diseases, such as asthma, emphysema, and cystic genetic diseases, typically things the patients are born with.

What do practitioners do to help sick patients? They help manage lung function, provide ongoing treatments, and meet with patients on a continued basis.

There are major differences between an associates degree and a four year bachelor’s degree. If you obtain an associate degree in Respiratory Care, you gain a lot of experience, knowledge and skills in the field. It allows you to have practice with direct care to patients, and experience in providing home care. The four year program allows students to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care, and get involved in programs that help students decide what they want to do in the field.

Some of these jobs include, but are not limited to: teaching, leadership in management, research for sleep medicine and involvement in neonatal pediatric care.

This four year program also provides more opportunities, allowing students to take positions such as advanced level practitioner, researcher, case manager, supervisor, manager, director, and educator. For example, Respiratory Practitioners take on responsibilities conducted by physicians that require a greater level of critical thinking and analytical skills.

Raymond Hernandez, Dean of Science, Math and Technology at Skyline College, stressed that taking on courses of Respiratory Care at Skyline is a “2+2 Program.” In the Respiratory Program program, courses are organized for students to graduate within two years, while also completing other Respiratory Care courses that normally require four years to complete at the same time.

Since the Respiratory Care bachelor’s degree at Skyline College became accessible on August 8th, 2016, students can graduate with their B.A. in the year 2018.

Eligibility for the program includes: students that are currently enrolled in the A.S. Respiratory Care program at Skyline College and plan to continue to B.S. Respiratory Care program, new graduates from other schools or programs who have completed an A.S. in Respiratory Care and are eligible for a California license, as well as Respiratory Care Practitioners who have completed an accredited Respiratory Care program that’s equivalent to an A.S.

In order to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Respiratory Care from Skyline College, students will need to take 120 units, including $130 per upper division, which is cheaper than going to a CSU for the same major.

For more questions on Respiratory Care and obtaining information on where or how to start, check out Skyline College’s website or go to Building 1, Room 7130 to meet with Raymond Hernandez.

There are also other faculty in the Respiratory Care program that can be contacted as well.