Respiratory Care: Nothing to cough at

Have you ever thought about pursuing a profession where you can help others? If so, you should take into consideration the exciting field of Respiratory Care. There is in fact a great program for inspiring respiratory therapists at Parkland.The Parkland College Respiratory Care Program held a poster presentation contest April 30 in the Flag Lounge. As a required assignment for class, both first and second year students prepared and presented their own posters.

A panel judged students on the presentation of their poster, the poster's content, and their ability to discuss the theme of the poster. There was extremely tight competition, with Tyler Kauffman winning first place with "Secretion Management" and Tomi Blanchard taking home second place with "VAP [Ventilator Associated Pneumonia] Prevention." These two students were then invited to compete at the annual Illinois Society For Respiratory Care statewide convention at Oakbrook, Illinois.

The panel of judges for the contest consisted of alumni from the program. These three alumni were Del Sieber, Professor Emeritus of Parkland College's Respiratory Care Program, Jennifer Compton, the Director of Cardiopulmonary Diagnostics at Provena Covenant Medical Center of Urbana, and Guy Snyder, Registered Respiratory Therapist and Master Of Public Health.

Held June 12 at the Illinois Society For Respiratory Care convention was the Betty Pendgraft Poster Contest. Amongst the tough, statewide competition at the contest, Blanchard received second place.

"The [Betty Pendgraft] poster presentation is your opportunity to be a representative of your school of respiratory therapy here in Illinois, gain recognition from leading respiratory therapists, physicians, and other health care professionals in attendance at the meeting, receive valuable feedback on your work given by conference attendees and judges who view your poster, help the ISRC build a solid scientific basis for the profession of respiratory care, network with professionals and have fun!" states the Illinois Society For Respiratory Care's website www.isrc.org.

The poster contest was named to honor Betty Pendgraft, a respiratory therapist who dedicated her career to teaching students about respiratory care and caring for her patients. The top two winners of the contest received a scholarship that covers the cost of taking the National Board for Respiratory Care Registered Respiratory Therapist exam. The value of this prize was $390.

"The Respiratory Care Program [at Parkland College] prepares students to become respiratory therapists. In addition to treating respiratory disease, the respiratory therapist may also be involved with education, clinical supervision, departmental management, and therapeutic decision making." States the Parkland College Course Catalog, "This program is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care."

For more information on Parkland's program for Respiratory Care, pick up Parkland's Course Catalog or view it online at www.parkland.edu/academics/departments/health/respiratory.aspx. You may be one step closer to finding your dream job.