In two years, learn to treat and prevent breathing issues and become eligible to take the National Board for Respiratory Care exam to earn the Registered Respiratory Therapist credential.
Become a certified medical professional
Save lives through respiratory care—one breath at a time! Respiratory therapists are certified medical professionals who treat problems with your lungs or breathing.
Using the same rigorous training as four-year schools, classes engage in interactive coursework in our state-of-the-art Healthcare Simulation Center as you learn how to:
- Treat patients with breathing or cardiopulmonary disorders
- Educate patients and families about their diseases
- Help patients with tobacco addictions
- Perform diagnostic testing for patients with lung disorders
- Treat trauma patients and work with all emergency care teams
- Coordinate care as a member of an interdisciplinary healthcare team
The Respiratory Care program is a selective admission program. See admission requirements.
100% job placement rate and partnerships with nine award-winning hospitals
JCCC is keeping up with industry advances. Area hospitals know the quality of our curriculum and request JCCC graduates. As a JCCC student, you'll experience:
- A 100% job placement rate for graduates who enter the workplace after graduation
- Board pass rates are above the national average
- A state-of-the-art Healthcare Simulation Center to gain hands-on experience before hospital clinical study in one of our nine partner hospitals
- Faculty who are all registered respiratory care practitioners with advanced degrees
- Small classes sizes - limited to 16 to 20 students so you can:
- Ask questions
- Engage in discussions
- Connect with classmates and professors
- Reasonable costs with a campus located conveniently to the metro area
JCCC classes are transferable to most four-year schools. Increase your marketability in the field by furthering your education. Consider your options to transfer to a four-year institution and pursue a bachelor’s degree.
This 65-credit-hour program is fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). After completing all the credit requirements, you will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Respiratory Care. Upon graduation you can sit for credentialing examinations to earn the following two credentials:
- Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT)
- Respiratory Therapist (RRT)
Here is what to expect at JCCC when pursuing your Respiratory Care, AAS. Classes vary by semester:
- First and second semesters: Meet two days a week, about 14 hours each week (9 a.m.-4 p.m.).
- Third and fourth semesters: Complete 24 hours of clinical time each week. In addition to clinical, you will have class all day Tuesday in the third semester and Tuesday morning in the fourth.
Put your education to work in multiple areas of healthcare
Respiratory Care graduates have numerous career options, including:
- Long-term Care – skilled nursing facilities, rehab hospitals
- Neonatal-Pediatrics – children’s and general hospitals with neonatal-pediatric care
- Surface and Air Transport – air or ground ambulances
- Pulmonary Rehab – rehabilitation centers and outpatient centers
- Polysomnography – sleep laboratories
- Education – professors and instructors in community colleges, universities, continuing education
- Critical Care – intensive care units in acute care hospitals
- Case Management – patient transition from hospital to home care setting
- Home Care – companies that provide residential equipment
- Pulmonary Diagnostics – hospital or physician offices, pulmonary laboratories
Homework help on campus and in person
The JCCC Academic Resource Center offers free tutoring in almost any subject. Meet with a tutor online or in-person as many times as you need!
Respiratory Care program accreditation information
Johnson County Community College’s Respiratory Care program (#200076) Associate of Applied Science degree is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). The JCCC program will prepare graduates with demonstrated competence in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains of respiratory care practice as performed by the registered respiratory therapists (RRTs).
CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcomes based’ process. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the educational goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented. For additional information, visit coarc.com. View CoARC Programmatic Outcomes Data.
Additional Resources
- Answer the Call for More Respiratory Therapists (AARC, CoARC, and NBRC)
- American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC)
- Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
- National Board of Respiratory Care (NBRC)
- US Department of Labor: Respiratory Therapists
Contact info
Kelle Oestreich, Director
Diane Norman, Administrative Assistant
Location: OHEC 121D
Email: rc-ndt@jccc.edu
Phone: 913-469-2583
