College worth going into debt?

Jolly · #**101** 10/29/07, 11:25 AM

Quote:

RESPIRATORY CARE THERAPIST 1—REGISTERED

FUNCTION OF WORK:

To provide respiratory care procedures to patients.

LEVEL OF WORK:

Entry.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED:

Close from higher-level respiratory care personnel or medical professional.

SUPERVISION EXERCISED:

None.

LOCATION OF WORK:

LSU Health Sciences Centers, Acute Care Hospitals; Department of Health and Hospitals.

JOB DISTINCTIONS:

Differs from the Respiratory Care Therapist 2-Registered by the absence of responsibility for performing a variety of complex clinical respiratory care procedures.

EXAMPLES OF WORK:

EXAMPLES LISTED BELOW INCLUDE BRIEF SAMPLES OF COMMON DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS JOB TITLE. PLEASE NOTE THAT NOT ALL TASKS ARE INCLUDED.

Administers prescribed treatments for patients with cardiopulmonary problems.

Carries out doctors’ prescriptions for respiratory care patients and checks charts.

May document quality control and performance improvement activity reports.

May make rounds to observe and ensure quality patient care.

May assist with cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Manages mechanical ventilation by use of ventilation protocols and performs all required assessments.

Assists respiratory therapists and cardiopulmonary staff of a higher level in performing complex specialized laboratory analyses and procedures.

Instructs and educates patients in the use of equipment and disease processes so that patient adjustment will be made more easily.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Possession of a Louisiana license or temporary permit to practice as a Registered Respiratory Therapist.

Salary range is $31K (starting)to $60K (after 12 years in the system).

sugarbush · #**102** 10/29/07, 12:02 PM

Job Description
Organization:
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Posting Title:
Respiratory Therapist-Days
Reference Number:
7502
Location:
Mary Hitchcock Mem. Hospital
Department:
Respiratory Care
Full/Part Time:
Full Time 36 to 39 hrs. weekly
Regular/Temporary:
Regular
Job Code:
000022
- -
Pay Range:
$19.69 $25.35 $31.01

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Qualifications
MINIMUM EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE: Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT).

The University of Kentucky draws straight out of their own program at 60k per year... They usually have 12-20 postings on their web site, but of course the minute I want to pull one up they didn't have any listed. My mother in law now is a coder for the VA, but she used to run a medical supply company and was hiring RRTs at 80K per year right out of school....she could not keep them because they minute they had a years experience they would leave for higher paying jobs in larger companies.

TheBiscuitQueen · #**103** 10/29/07, 02:14 PM

Check out the ag field. Milk inspection, Dept Ag and Markets, Cooperative Extension, AI, Ag journalism, even insurance companies which service the ag industry. There are many jobs in the Ag field. Go to Ag college web sites and they can give you lists of job opportunities. www.alfredstate.edu is ours.

morrowsmowers · #**104** 10/29/07, 03:51 PM

Also, consider technical writing. Seems to be needed a lot in support of engineering, science, medical, technical, etc. fields. I started on a degree in that area years ago combined with my power plant training when the school went out of existence (a long story) and I never followed up with it at another school.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

sidepasser · #**105** 10/29/07, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris30523

Make sure you know what you want. Although even that could change through the years. My sister is a successful Aero-space engineer working 40-60 hrs a week at a stressful job making a boat load of money. I have a degree in microbiology but I am a farmer. I work a few hours a day 7 days a week. Now ask me who is happier.

That is what I have told my son - whatever you decide to do in life, make sure you enjoy it because you will be doing it for a long time, especially if that is what your degree is in.

i.e. banking - you say you do not like banking..then don't go that route, if you don't like it now, you won't like it any more 4 years down the road.

What do you like? If you like finance - there are lots of finance related things you could do..accoutant, CPA, auditor, grant writer, etc. that do not involve banks.

Find out what you love..and can make a living at. No sense being an underwater basketweaver if you can not pay the light bill at the end of the month.

Be an underwater basketweaver as a hobby and perhaps look at engineering -mechanicals, electricals..are in demand. Even teaching..nothing wrong with being a teacher and you can pretty much get a job with a masters anywhere.

Going to college for college's sake is not enough, you have to have money in your pocket at the end of the day and like what you do as well. If you don't like your career, you will not do as well as you could have. There is a difference between a "job" and a " career". A job is what people do that have no long term goals, no passion, love or feeling and one job is pretty near as good as another as long as the pay is right. A career though..that is something that you would do if you didn't get paid for it..but because you do get paid (and hopefully enough to live on)..you excel and therefore earn more.

Find a career that you love..and the schooling will be easier and you won't dread going to work everyday. A rule of thumb that the engineers where I work use to determine debt - do not go into more debt than you could make in one year at the time of graduation. i.e. Salary of 25,000 - do not take on more debt than that over the life of college. Seems to work - the engineers I know have paid off their student loans and are making rather good salaries now.

PS - I graduated with 1,000 in student loan debt. I worked full time and carried a 15 credit hour course load each quarter. About killed me because I had kids, worked full time and went to school full time. At least you have no children and no hubby and won't be working 40-50 hours per week..so count yourself lucky and get back in school.

sidepasser · #**106** 10/29/07, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Dahliaqueen, I knew a woman who was 50 and starting medical school. Granted her grandmother and great grandmother lived to over 100, but still...

I would advise against going into anything medical. Although there is a high need for nurses right now, the industry itself is a)falling apart at the seams and b) completely neurotic in the workplace environment--a fact which those who have never worked in other industries are unable to see.

Having worked in both engineering and medical capacities, I can tell you that the workplace environment for engineering is far healthier, physically, mentally, financially, and lifestyle-wise/hours, than anything you'll find in medicine.

The only disadvantage in engineering is that you're one step removed in the way you are helping people--you help their (or build) tools rather than the people directly.
Don't get me wrong--patients are great. It is other healthcare providers, legal/insurance bull-pucky, and particularly the management hierarchy that are crazy-making in the medical fields.

Suburanite - this is particularly true - (bolding is my emphasis)..I am in a high tech engineering field..and there opportunities abound, and there are differences in the types of engineering that you can seek out.

I never really wanted to go into this field, just sort of fell into it..and stayed with it..my speciality was international finance. Not too much call for that in a town of 20,000 at the time..lol..