Santa Monica College
Respiratory Therapy Program

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The Respiratory Therapy Program offered through SMC is a unique opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to enter this demanding profession. Our program is in a partnership with East Los Angeles College (ELAC) which provides the student a tremendous wealth of resources to maximize the learning experience. Students are able to take the first year of coursework at SMC*, followed by a second year of classroom, laboratory, and clinical study through enrollment on our ELAC partner campus. SMC faculty participate in the teaching of the second year coursework on the ELAC campus in Monterey Park, as well as provide clinical instruction at our UCLA Medical Center clinical facility.
*One course, RT 2, must be taken on the ELAC campus during the first year of study.

The demand for respiratory therapists is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace with estimates of a 48% growth by the year 2005. This represents an increase of 36,000 more therapists needed ! You could be one of them if you pursue your education through our innovative program. Our program is unique in offering students the resources of two community colleges, East Los Angeles College (ELAC) working in partnership with Santa Monica College to provide you with an outstanding educational opportunity.

The respiratory care profession has a bright future with a great deal of job security and opportunity for advancement. Once you enter the profession you may want to specialize in an area such as neonatal care, cardiopulmonary diagnostics, pediatric or adult critical care. You may also elect to stay a generalist practitioner. With more care being provided outside the hospital environment there is a rapidly growing market for therapists outside the acute care environment, in such areas as home care, physician office practice, medical equipment sales, sub-acute care in a skilled nursing facility or perhaps in pulmonary rehabilitation.

Graduates have a choice, they can initially earn the joint "certificate of completion" awarded by both SMC and ELAC which is required for application to the California Respiratory Care Board Licensing exam, or they can choose to earn their Associate degree in Respiratory Therapy with completion of the additional degree requirements. The certificate of completion allows the graduate to sit for the Respiratory Care Practitioner (RCP) examination required for practice in California. In addition to eligibility for California licensure, graduates are eligible to take the advanced practitioner exams to become a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) and sit for the Certified Pulmonary Function Technologist (CPFT) exam offered by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC).

All of the first-year classes are offered on the SMC campus (except RT 2). Students accepted into the second phase of the program then enroll in a combination of lecture, lab, and clinical courses offered on the ELAC campus. Clinical training occurs in some of the most respected medical facilities in the United States.

Students receive hands on clinical training at such clinical rotations as UCLA Medical Center, Glendale Adventist Medical Center, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, White Memorial Medical Center, King/Drew Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Beverly Hospital and University Hospital. These clinical sites provide some of the finest learning opportunities available and result in a very job-market ready graduate. This program is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Allied Health Professions (CAAHEP).

For more program information please call the Health Science Department at SMC to speak to Mel Welch, faculty member of the program. Telephone number: (310) 434-3463