Vermont Technical College has expanded its Respiratory Therapy program with a new distance education site in White River Junction increasing access to applied education in another corner of the state and region. The expansion comes at a time when Vermont has seen a shortage of respiratory therapists.
“Our goal in expanding this program is to augment Vermont’s respiratory therapy workforce and, in doing so, help drive down healthcare costs,” said Patricia Moulton, president at Vermont Technical College. “Securing traveling respiratory therapists is expensive and drives up costs.”
At the White River Junction site, students will meet in-person with a curriculum delivered via telepresence technology. They will also engage in a team-based, flipped classroom educational model. Students will also have access to a laboratory, and under instructor supervision, they will provide patient care in a variety of healthcare settings in Vermont and New Hampshire, including Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Catholic Medical Center, and Elliot Hospital.
“This career brings you to the helm of the medical field with many options for learning,” says William Guillen, an alumnus of the program.
“My goal is to make a difference in the lives of my patients so that way they can go back home to their families and live in hopefully better conditions than the condition they were admitted in,” added Zachary Kern, a recent graduate.
The Respiratory Therapy program at Vermont Tech has a 100% job placement rate.