East Central College offers the Respiratory Care program through the Missouri Health Professions Consortium (MHPC) and is coordinated through East Central College as a hybrid program. The AAS in Respiratory Care is a one-plus-one-degree program which prepares students to practice as Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) and to become state licensed as a Respiratory Care Practitioner. Upon graduation, students will receive their Associate of Applied Science Degree in Respiratory Care and will be eligible to take the Therapist Multiple Choice (TMC) and Clinical Simulation Exam (CSE) administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) to obtain the Registered Respiratory Therapy (RRT) credential.
Registered Respiratory Therapists (RRT) work with critical and non-critical patients in a variety of settings which include hospitals, surgery centers, rehabilitation centers, education, research, and medical equipment sales.
Prerequisites/General Education: A selective admission process is utilized. Students must have a “C” or better in all prerequisite coursework, have a cumulative college GPA of 2.5, and complete a minimum of 8 hours of job shadowing, and complete a pre-entrance exam to apply to the program.
Extra-Curricular/Co-curricular Opportunities at ECC: ECC offers a wide variety of clubs and co-curricular activities for all students.
