Tomorrow marks the completion of my first week as a Respiratory Therapy student. To be honest it feels pretty surreal to be at this point and finally learning what I have wanted to for what seems like forever.
So first, I little bit about me. I am currently in the Navy as a basic Hospital Corpsman. I have been in for a little over 2 1/2 years spending my first 13 months after training in a labor & delivery unit and roughly 9 months in a Respiratory Therapy clinic after that doing on the job training.
There were several factors that helped shape my decision to become an RT. One reason is that RT's get a great amount of respect and when the patient starts to head south, many look up to the RT to solve the problem. Another reason is that one time during a neonatal code in the OR following an emergency c-section, I watched the newborn go from almost being pronounced by the Doc, to making a miraculous recovery almost completely due to the RT. That RT left a huge impression on me and I look up to him to this day. My grandfather was another reason. When I was a kid I remember on an almost nightly basis he would bring me down to the local cafe and buy me an ice cream cone while he drank coffee and talked with old friends of his. At the time I took it all completely for granted. I didn't really understand sickness and dying, I sort of assumed that all my loved ones would be around forever. But when I was 9 years old, my grandpa died of emphysema. I remember that helpless feeling I had as a kid, watching him try so hard to take a breath in, to catch up, but couldn't. Ever since then I knew that I wanted to help people breath.
So here I am, 13 years later.
My first week has been busy to say the least. Upon graduation from this program I will receive an Associate in Science in Respiratory Care and I will challenge the board certification to become a Certified Respiratory Therapist (CRT). The only problem is that this is normally a two-year program, plus prereqs..... we are doing it in 8 months. So the pace is definitely a few clicks above what you would see in a civilian college. If I remember right a normal course load in quarter hours was 15 hours.... which means 15 hours of instruction per week. Right now we are doing about 40-45.
So far in the last week we have covered the history of respiratory care, infection control, basic physics (gas laws, etc.), ethics, and the cardiovascular system. Part of the reason we can move through these so quick is that we have already had exposure to most of this stuff. Working in a hospital I already know about MRSA, and handwashing. I know about HIPAA & following a code of ethics. We covered the very basics of cardio when I went through Corps School. That isn't to say I'm not learning though. Sure I've heard Boyle's Law, but I've never applied it to the respiratory system and I have definitely never covered the cardiovascular system in the detail that we have gone over.
Today was a particularly awesome (though many would consider it odd) day. In the AM we wrapped up the CV system, did a review, and then went down to the lab to see actual hearts. Of course I have seen the hearts of other animals before, but I have never seen a real human heart up close. It was truly fascinating. Being able to hold it brings your understanding to a whole new level. There were 3 in the classroom and you were able to tell something about each person it belonged to just by looking at it. One was smaller than the other two and we were able to deduct that it was from a female. Another was much fattier and we were able to tell that it had come from someone who was obese. For some reason I found the aorta the most fascinating part. It's so big! I was easily able to fit my thumb inside it and still had room to move it around.
After lunch we came back and studied some more physics. We covered energy and heat by.... making ice cream! We took the ingredients and put them inside of a ziplock baggie and then put that ziplock inside of another one that had ice and salt in it. We then shook it until the liquid contents in the first bag solidified. After that we discussed the energy transfer that occurred (conduction if you were wondering). I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week and I didn't really realize how odd most people would consider my day until I sat back and really thought about all we did. If this is what I have to look forward to in the next 7+ months, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else (except with my family).
Well it's time for me to go, cardio quiz coming up!
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