Bachelor's Degree Completion Program

Description of the Degree Completion Program

Students can now earn a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care without coming to the Boise campus. The program is designed for Registered Respiratory Therapists who want to earn a BS Degree without leaving their homes. The student is required to complete 10, three-credit courses. Because the program is designed for practitioners who are working full-time, students are encouraged to take two or three courses per semester completing their BS degree in two years. Each of these courses will be delivered online only. Because the student is required to be a Registered Respiratory Therapist before being accepted into the program, there is no clinical course in the Senior Year.

Admission Criteria

To be admitted to the Senior Year, students must first submit unofficial copies of their transcripts and documentation of their RRT to the department for review. Each student’s transcript will need to be evaluated individually. The criteria for admission include:

Students who have received an AS degree in Respiratory Care from Boise State University will have taken additional credits applicable towards their Bachelor’s degree. They may not need to take all of the courses required for the Senior Year online. Students who have an Associate of Applied Science Degree may need to take additional classes to satisfy core (general education) requirements.

Description of Course Delivery Method

Courses will be delivered via Blackboard. Blackboard is a Web-based course-management system designed to allow students and faculty to participate in classes delivered online. Blackboard enables instructors to provide students with course materials, discussion boards, virtual chat, online quizzes, an academic resource center and more.

Online courses typically are more time-intensive than in-class courses. Students will be required to do a significant amount of reading, online posting, writing of papers and more online activities. Therefore, the student must be motivated and willing to spend a considerable amount of time on each course. For this reason, it is not recommended that students working full-time take more than three courses per semester.

 

Quality of the Boise State Respiratory Care Program

General Program Information

The BSU Respiratory Care Program has been in existence as a Therapist Program/Advanced Practitioner Program for over 30 years. A Bachelor of Science Degree in Respiratory Care has been offered for years.

There are five full-time faculty in the Department of Respiratory Care balancing age and experience with youth and energy. Three of our faculty have been teaching for 25-30 years each, while the remaining two are teaching for more than five years. For more than twelve years, the faculty have been involved with international education working with students from countries including Japan and Saudi Arabia. Online courses have been available for several years attracting both international students and students from several states across the U.S.

Graduation Rates on NBRC Examinations

The Boise State Respiratory Care Program has always had an outstanding pass rate on NBRC Exams. During the past 10 years, the pass rate on the Entry Level Examination has remained over 95%. The pass rate on the Written Registry and Clinical Simulations has always been well above the national average.

Employment

All of our graduates seeking employment have secured employment in Respiratory Care upon graduation. The Department receives frequent requests from health care facility personnel and recruiters from the greater Boise area, the State of Idaho and the surrounding states seeking our graduates.

Research

At the AARC 2004 International Congress in New Orleans, our students and faculty presented seven Poster Presentations at the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation. Students and faculty attending the AARC 2005 International Congress in San Antonio, presented 12 Poster Presentations at the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation. Six of our students received the Respironics Fellowship for Mechanical Ventilation in 2005. During the Open Forum on Mechanical Ventilation at the AARC 2006 International Congress in Las Vegas, our students and faculty presented eight Poster Presentations. In 2007, two students presented one Poster Presentation at the AARC Interantional Congress in Orlando.

Publications

Several faculty are involved in authoring medical educational software, have published articles in refereed journals and have presented research at the AARC International Congress.