Program Overview

Respiratory Care, BS

Department Chair: Lisa Johnson

The respiratory care program offers a full-time upper-division program leading to the Bachelor of Science degree. Stony Brook freshmen are given the option to declare respiratory care as a lower-division major.

Respiratory therapists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with heart, lung, and sleep disorders. They work with a wide variety of patients, from premature infants to the elderly. They provide services in many settings including hospitals, clinics, physician offices, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Many are also taking advantage of opportunities in diagnostic labs (such as sleep, cardiac catheterization pulmonary function) and in-home health care. Individuals who graduate from the program are employed as clinicians, managers, educators, and researchers.

The respiratory care program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC). CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcome-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.

The respiratory care program is also an education program approved by the New York State Department of Education. Stony Brook University is accredited by Middle States Commission on Higher Education Accreditation (last reaffirmed 2014). Graduates of the respiratory care program are eligible to sit for National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) and upon passing the exams can pursue state licensure.

The school’s Certificate of Professional Achievement and the University’s baccalaureate degree are awarded upon satisfactory completion of all coursework.

Admission Requirements

Candidates for the respiratory care program must meet the upper-division admission requirements of the School of Health Professions. The requirements may be fulfilled through previously completed college studies.

In addition to the general academic requirements for junior status in the School of Health Professions, candidates must have a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.5 and a minimum science GPA of 2.0. All prerequisite courses must be completed with a grade of C or better. Minimum required courses include:

• 3 credits English composition
• 3 credits of arts
• 3 credits of humanities
• 3 credits of introductory (100 level) and 3 credits of intermediate or higher (200 - 400 level) social and behavioral sciences
• 8 credits of anatomy and physiology (preferred) or general biology with labs
• 8 credits of chemistry with labs
• 4 credits of physics with a lab
• 3 credits of statistics

Science courses less than 10 years old are preferred. The program also requires students to be certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) offered by the American Heart Association (valid certification card required) prior to starting clinical rotations.

To advance to junior status, Stony Brook students who declared a respiratory care major as freshmen must meet the requirements described above and successfully complete HAT 210 with a grade of B or higher.

Program Requirements

All respiratory care students must complete the following courses for successful completion of the upper-division program leading to the baccalaureate degree.

Basic Science/Other Health Professions Courses

• HAS 332 - Management Concepts for Health Professionals (1 credit)
• HAS 351 - Research Literacy/Research Design (1 credit)
• HAS 355 - Integrative Systems Physiology (4 credits)
• HAS 363 - Computer Literacy for Health Professionals (1 credit)
• HAS 490 - Research Tutorial (2 credits)
• HBA 461 - Regional Human Anatomy for Respiratory Therapists (5 credits)
• HAD 310 - Pathology (3 credits)

Professional Courses (Junior Year)

• HAT 304 - Cardiopulmonary Physiology (4 credits)
• HAT 306 - Patient Evaluation (2 credits)
• HAT 315 - Pharmacology (4 credits)
• HAT 320 - Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Treatment I (3 credits)
• HAT 330 - Pulmonary Pathology (3 credits)
• HAT 331 - Respiratory Care Techniques I (3 credits)
• HAT 332 - Respiratory Care Techniques II (3 credits)
• HAT 333 - Pulmonary Diagnostic Techniques (3 credits)
• HAT 350 - Basic Respiratory Care Clinical (4 credits)
• HAT 353 - Pulmonary Diagnostic Clinical (2 credits)
• HAT 470 - Polysomnographic Technology I (3 credits)
• HAT 475 - Polysomnographic Technology I Clinical (2 credits)
• HAT 487 - Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Clinical (2 credits)

Professional Courses (Senior Year)

• HAT 335 - Medical Ethics (2 credits)
• HAT 410 - Introduction to Clinical Education (2 credits)
• HAT 411 - Clinical Teaching in Respiratory Care (4 credits)
• HAT 415 - Respiratory Care Techniques IV (2 credits)
• HAT 420 - Cardiovascular Diagnosis and Treatment II (3 credits)
• HAT 431 - Respiratory Care Techniques III (4 credits)
• HAT 432 - Perinatal Respiratory Care (4 credits)
• HAT 450 - Critical Care Clinical (5 credits)
• HAT 451 - Perinatal Care Clinical (4 credits)
• HAT 482 - Physiologic Monitoring Clinical (2 credits)
• HAT 494 - Respiratory Care Board Review (1 credit)

Polysomnography Specialty Option Courses

• HAT 471 - Polysomnographic Technology II (2 credits)
• HAT 476 - Polysomnographic Technology II Clinical (2 credits)

Dean’s List

A Dean’s List of superior undergraduate students is compiled at the end of the fourth and eighth modules of each academic year. To be eligible for the Health Professions Dean’s List, students must be matriculated full-time in a baccalaureate program of the school and have a minimal grade point average of 3.60 (seniors) or 3.45 (juniors).