» Respiratory Care

Would you like to help people? Help a child with asthma or an elderly person with chronic lung disease? Would you like to become a professional? Would you like to be employable after only 2 years of education?

Consider respiratory care. It’s a rewarding and fulfilling profession that’s in tremendous demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that by the year 2006 the need for respiratory therapist will grow by 46%. You can email the program director at galvin.w@gmc.edu. You may also contact the Admissions Office at admissions@gmc.edu or call 1-800-DIAL GMC. Additional professional information is available through the American Association for Respiratory Care at www.AARC.org.

For a detailed description on the Respiratory Care program, click here

Key Features include:

• Become a professional (vital member of health care team)
• An experienced and nationally-recognized program (faculty and clinical affiliates)
• Career ladder approach (Associate Degree + certificate of registry-eligibility + bachelors degree offerings)
• An integrated classroom, laboratory, and clinical teaching/learning approach)
• Listed by Money Magazine as #13 on the list of the “50 Hottest Jobs in the Country” and cited by the
• Bureau of Labor Statistics as having a 46% demand in growth by 2008
• Salary ranges are currently $40,000 - $60,000 to start

Unique two-plus one-plus one program design

Gwynedd offers a career ladder approach to respiratory care education with its unique two-plus-one-plus-one program design (Associate Degree + Certificate of registry-eligibility + Baccalaureate Degree). The first two years represent the Associate Degree program allowing the student to sit for their entry level exam and secure employment after only two years of preparation. The third year is the certificate program and allows for registry-eligibility and continued employment at the advanced level. The last year is the bachelor of health science degree program designed for professional leadership and service in the areas of management/ supervision and/or opportunities in classroom, clinical, patient or community education. This program design is geared to the student’s needs and is the only one of its kind in the region. It is student- and career-directed and allows the student upward mobility and career advancement.

For detailed information on this unique program design, click here.

A Pioneer in Respiratory Care Education
Gwynedd Mercy College has a long and celebrated history of preparing health care professionals. It has its roots back in the early 1960s from its original sponsor, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, one of the very first respiratory care education programs in the country. In the late 1970s it was the educational arm of a consortium of 5 hospital-based schools and assumed total classroom, laboratory and clinical responsibility for educational development in the early 1980s. It houses a distinguished and world-renowned list of affiliate hospitals - the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson University, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and many others.