Baccalaureate in Respiratory Care

The Respiratory Care baccalaureate degree program is intended for students who have completed a Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) approved Associate degree program in the field of respiratory care as a pathway to complete a four-year degree. The curriculum focuses on advanced level scope of practice, including clinical specialist, interventional pulmonology, and pulmonary diagnostics. The program will be limited to 30 students and will commence Fall quarter.

Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care Projections 

The Chart below shows the five-year projections based on the enrollment of completer students and that of past graduates and graduates from other programs. This projection takes into account the number of students currently enrolling into the Interventional Pulmonology Certificate Program as well as the number of students enrolled into the respiratory program who already have a baccalaureate degree. 

	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	2026-27
FH RSPT Completers	20	20	20	20	20
FH Past Graduates and other program Graduates	10	10	20	20	20
Total enrollment	30	30	40	40	40

Projected Enrollment Data for new courses

		Year 1	Year 1	Year 2	Year 2
Course #	Course Title	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment	Annual Sections	Annual Enrollment
BIOL 300	Human Pathophysiology and Pharmacology	1	30	1	30
HLTH 300	Health Across the Lifespan	1	30	1	30
RSPT 300	Leadership and Management	1	30	1	30
RSPT 301	Clinical Specialist and Chronic Disease Management	1	30	1	30
RSPT 302	Pulmonary Diagnostics	1	30	1	30
RSPT 303	Interventional Pulmonology Theory and Application	1	30	1	30
RSPT 304	Interventional Pulmonology Procedures	1	30	1	30
IDS 300	Research Methodology for Health Professionals	1	30	1	30
RSPT 305	Respiratory Care Capstone Research Project	1	30	1	30

Program Goals 

The goal of the baccalaureate degree program is to educate existing respiratory therapists and give them the necessary tools for advancement within the field. A baccalaureate degree will ensure that students are more competitive and have access to specialty positions within respiratory care. 

Program Objectives 

• The respiratory care bachelor’s in science degree graduate will have the skills to implement their role as a health professional and will possess the ethics, values, skills, and knowledge integral to all aspects of the profession with an emphasis on clinical specialist, interventional pulmonology, and pulmonary diagnostics.  

• The graduate will be able to exercise evidence-based practice, critical thinking and communicate effectively in all professional employment settings. 

The program will require 74 units not including CSU Breadth or IGETC courses. 

Requirements	Course #	Title	Units	Sequence
CSU GE Breadth requirement or Intersegmental GE Transfer Curriculum (IGETC)		See Catalog for full list		Prerequisite
	ENGL 1B	Composition, Critical reading & Thinking Through Literature	5	Prerequisite
	MATH 10	Elementary Statistics	5	Prerequisite
	HLTH 20	Introduction to Public Health	5	Prerequisite
	SOC 1	Introduction to Sociology	5	Prerequisite
	COMM 1A	Public Speaking	5	Prerequisite
	BIOL 45	Introduction to Human Nutrition	5	Prerequisite
Core Courses   (30 units) upper division courses
	RSPT 300	Leadership and Management	5	First year Winter Quarter
	RSPT 301	Clinical Specialist and Chronic Disease Management	5	First year Spring Quarter
	RSPT 302	Pulmonary Diagnostics	5	First year Spring Quarter
	RSPT 303	Interventional Pulmonology Theory and Application	5	Second year Fall Quarter
	RSPT 304	Interventional Pulmonology Procedures	5	Second year Winter Quarter
	RSPT 305	Respiratory Care Capstone Research Project	5	Second year Spring Quarter
Restricted Electives (14 units) upper division GE courses
	BIOL 300	Human Pathophysiology and Pharmacology	4	First year Fall Quarter
	HLTH 300	Health Across the Lifespan	5	First year Winter Quarter
	IDS 300	Research Methodology for Health Professionals	5	Second year Spring Quarter

The proposed program is in alignment with the CCC mission of providing degree-applicable credit. The proposed degree will offer baccalaureate-level courses appropriate to general education and the respiratory care major. Students who complete their baccalaureate will be more marketable and will have more job opportunities than those who have an associate degree.   Per employer surveys provided by COE, most employers prefer a bachelor's degree for hire but many RTs in California do not have a bachelor's degree.

Skyline College currently offers a bachelor's degree program in Respiratory Care.