Anyone looking for a new career could do a lot worse than getting into respiratory therapy, according to Dr. Peter Jaswilko, a professor at Triton College in River Grove and a cheerleader for the college’s new respiratory therapy program.
According to Jaswilko, graduates of the two-year program can find a job pretty much anywhere there’s a hospital, close to home, across state lines or even overseas. That’s not just hot air. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the respiratory therapy labor field is projected to grow by 13% over the next decade, much faster than average.
“There’s a national shortage of respiratory therapists,” Jaswilko said. “And we see a shortage overseas. So Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East and Canada are constantly trying to recruit from the United State, because there aren’t many schools operating right now.”
Respiration — breathing — is a universal necessity and, as such, Jaswilko said therapists can work to help patients breathe at any age, from newborns to elderly patients in hospice. They help when patients are in distress and have chronic conditions like COPD and asthma and also with routine issues like sleep apnea and, now, for people who have breathing difficulty related to COVID-19.
Therapists are everywhere, in every health setting and anyone who has been admitted to the hospital may have met a respiratory therapist but not known it.
“People assume all that is done by nurses or physicians,” he said. “It’s not, and it’s new. It’s been around for several decades but it’s grown in terms of accountability and responsibility and it’s grown in terms of technology. As that grows, then the field grows.”
In addition, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, another reason for growth in the field is, over the next few years, thousands of therapists are set to retire.
To meet that demand and to help serve the needs of students who want a well-paying job after a two-year program, Triton College kickstarted their program this semester after a long hiatus and with the help of a state Pipeline for the Advancement of a Health Workforce grant which paid for equipment for the school and offered financial help to the school’s first cohort of 1,015 students. The effort is part of a statewide push to expand the profession and Jaswilko said he’s happy the Triton College program is open to allow students to get into the lucrative field.
“The median salary is $85,000,” he said. “If they do specialty care, then six figures. Salaries are very competitive. It’s a lot higher than most healthcare fields right now.”
Specializing is common, Jaswilko said. Practitioners can work in a clinic or hospital as a general practitioner, but usually respiratory therapists have an age or a setting they prefer working with. Some therapists prefer working in an emergency room setting with all manner of patients while others prefer working with children, others with elderly patients and some, who don’t like working in hospitals, can focus on home care. Then there are respiratory therapists who help run sleep studies and don’t usually deal with emergency issues. The fit is whatever feels right, Jaswilko said.
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
