Careers
At Children's Medical CenterRespiratory Care
Our respiratory care practitioners work with a variety of medical professionals to treat a broad spectrum of pulmonary and related disorders. Areas of specialized service include general care, ambulatory care and critical care. Respiratory care practitioners are trained to provide advanced therapies such as HFOV, ECMO and nitric oxide.
Respiratory Externship Program
The pediatric externship program for respiratory therapists is designed to provide the advanced student of an accredited, registered respiratory care school with the skills, knowledge and experience specific to pediatric respiratory care. This program is designed to complement and enhance the respiratory school curriculum and to prepare the student to function in the field of pediatric respiratory care.
This program can accommodate up to eight externs annually. It begins with applicant interviews in June and July and ends upon graduation from the accredited respiratory school. The didactic portion of the program begins in August and ends in December. It is 16 weeks in length and consists of one day a week of training related to specific pediatric respiratory diseases and therapies. Upon completion of this didactic study, the student will receive an internal Certificate of Completion for the Pediatric Respiratory Externship Didactic Program.
The clinical portion of this program begins in December when the student has successfully completed the didactic portion of the program. Externs then will be eligible to sign up for clinical shifts in the general care inpatient units to practice their skills and gain pediatric experience.
Program participants are expected to be available for employment at Children's upon graduation. Also, it is expected that therapists participating in this program will not accept employment at another facility while employed at Children's during the externship program and until graduation or termination of employment. This precludes employment as a student therapist at any other facility. Exceptions may be granted at the discretion of the director of respiratory care services.
Requirements:
- Current enrollment in accredited program for professional respiratory care
- GPA of 3.4 or higher
- BS-level students must be in their junior year
- AAS- and three-year program students must be in the fall semester of their sophomore year
- Official transcript
- Completion of application
- One letter of recommendation from a clinical instructor or program director
- A paragraph stating why you should be chosen and what you hope to gain from this program
- Availability for employment at Children's upon graduation
Our 16-week program lasts from August to December. Applications are due on July 15 each year. For more information, call 214-456-2734.