The United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2008-09 edition describes the role of a Respiratory Therapist as "...evaluate, treat, and care for patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders. Practicing under the direction of a physician, respiratory therapists assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care therapeutic treatments and diagnostic procedures ..."

For more information about the dynamic profession of Respiratory Care, contact an accredited associate degree program in Massachusetts:

Associate Degree Programs

• Berkshire Community College - 1350 West St, Pittsfield, MA 01201 - Program Director: Margaret Goss

• Labouré College of Healthcare -303 Adams Street Milton MA 02186 - Program Director: Sharon Southwick

• Massasoit Community College - 1 Massasoit Blvd Brockton, MA 02302 - Program Director: Kevin Doten

• Northern Essex Community College - 414 Essex St, Lawrence, MA 01841 - Program Director: Jennifer Jackson-Stevens

• North Shore Community College - 1 Ferncroft Rd, Danvers, MA 01923 - Program Director: Jane Schweizer

• Quinsigamond Community College - 670 West Boylston St, Worcester 01606 - Program Director: Daniel Marsala

• Springfield Technical Community College - 1 Armory St, Springfield, MA 01105 - Program Director: Scott Frink

Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) Program List

COARC keeps an updated list of all programs approved. To access this list please visit COARC’s website for the up to date list.

CRCE versus Contact Hours

Many respiratory therapists often are confused between the AARC's CRCE® and contact hours of education. They are calculated differently, and often confused. To help with this, please see some of the information below. 

Contact Hours

A contact hour of continuing education is when there is 50 consecutive clock minutes of academic course work, online or correspondence course or seminar/workshop. This means that for every 50 minutes of education, you earn 1 contact hours. 

Q: What about if the lecture I participated in was 60 minutes long, how many contact hours did I earn?

A: You earned 1.2 contact hours. To calculate this, take 60 and divide it by 50. This equals 1.2.

CRCE®

AARC's CRCE contact hour is defined as 60 minutes of learning activity. This means that for every 60 minutes of education, you earn 1 CRCE. 

Q: What about if the lecture I participated in was 60 minutes long, how many CRCEs did I earn?

A: You earned 1 CRCE.

Q: What about if the lecture I participated in was 50 minutes long, how many CRCEs did I earn?

A: You earned 0.83 CRCE. To calcuate this, take 50 and divide it by 60. This equals 0.83. 

CEU's

We often call our continuing education, CEUs. Did you know that 1 CEU is actually 10 contact hours of education? CEU stands for Continuing Education Unit. A CEU is a unit of credit equal to ten hours of participation in an approved educational activity.

We hope that this helps you when determining if you have enough continuing education to maintain your license. Remember, if you are an AARC Member, all CRCE approved courses are tracked in your AARC Membership account. Visit www.aarc.org to look up your records.