HCC graduates class of respiratory therapists

Jul 27, 2015

Graduates of the Respiratory Therapist program at Houston Community College Coleman College for Health Sciences got their pins during a ceremony at the West Loop Campus. Respiratory therapists play a vital role in hospitals by ensuring trauma patients have the ability to breathe as doctors perform other life-saving tasks. Students had a sense of pride after graduating from a relatively young program as they transition into a medical field that is in high demand.

“To me it’s exciting,” Cristina Nunez, a HCC Respiratory Therapy Program graduate, said. “It means I’ve accomplished something, and I’m ready to move forward and actually begin life. It’s very comforting and overwhelming to complete this program.”

Those unfamiliar with the program might not know the benefits of and duties of a respiratory therapist. These individuals are integral in keeping trauma patients stable.

“We are the people that direct life support machines,” HCC Respiratory Therapy Program Director Teodoro Tovar said. “We also work in emergency rooms and with children and in intensive care units. It is a wide range of things we do in the Hospital setting.”

To register for the HCC Respiratory Therapy Program, visit hccs.edu/apply.