I’ve seen and heard multiple negative opinions from people that this is a dead end field. Further, I’ve read that job opportunities are sparse. Most of these opinions, however, come from people who cannot formulate a proper sentence, nor punctuate properly. Ergo, this adds to my inclination these same individuals cannot formulate a professional resume.
So, how is the job market for a new graduate Registered Respiratory Therapist? Please, only articulate persons answer.
Bls.gov says that the expected growth in the field is 28%, which is higher than most other fields. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/respiratory-therapists.htm
However, *your* particular Job Market may already be full or may be wide open.
The problem is that it’s not a huge field, like nursing. Our local clinic that has 8 pulmonologists only had one RT, but I can’t say that’s the norm or if it’s abnormal.
The naysayers I’ve seen seem to link to some article that they claim states that Respiratory Therapy is going away – like that states aren’t issuing new licenses or something. The article they link to doesn’t say that at all. I don’t remember the specifics of the article they linked to, but if memory serves, it actually said the opposite, if you have reading comprehension skills above a 5th grader.
My recommendation would be to get the maximum amount of schooling reasonable for the field and all the certifications you can (for different types of RT). This is usually a Bachelor’s degree and CRT/RRT credentials.