GMercyU Celebrates Respiratory Care Week

Gwynedd Mercy University celebrated Respiratory Care Week with a luncheon for students in the Respiratory Care program on October 23.

The annual luncheon provides first-year students an opportunity to get to know professors and sophomore students a chance to chat with upperclassmen to learn more about their clinical experiences at hospitals such as the University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Jefferson Hospital.

"It is a fun time and an opportunity to applaud all Respiratory Care students for the important work they do caring for patients afflicted with cardio-respiratory diseases and conditions such as infant prematurity, asthma, COPD, Basic and Advanced CPR," Assistant Professor and Program Director of GMercyU's Respiratory Care Program Bill Galvin RRT, CPFT, AE-C, FAARC said.

Members of the Respiratory Care faculty are also presenting at local conferences this month. Adjunct Professor Tom Lamphere BS, RRT-ACCS, RPFT, FAARC is presenting on the topic of "Weaning and Extubation: State of the Art" and Professor Galvin is presenting on the topic "Communication at the Bedside: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" at the 2019 Pennsylvania Society for Respiratory Care (PSRC) Conference on October 25.

Instructor and Laboratory Director Randy Solly, MS, RRT, RPFT will also be presenting at the PSRC Abington Jefferson Conference on the topic "Spirometry: 2019 Standards" later this year and Professor Barbara Schuster, Director of Clinical Education, will be receiving the Educator of the Year Award.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of respiratory therapists is projected to grow 21 percent from 2018 to 2028, much faster than the general U.S. employment forecast of 5%. The median annual wage for respiratory therapists was $60,280 in May 2018.

Learn more about GMercyU's Respiratory Care degree program.