Health Sciences (Respiratory Therapy) (BHSc)
Breathe life into health care, learn to support patients of all ages with breathing and heart conditions, and graduate with more than 1,500 hours of hands-on clinical experience.
Why choose this program?
Respiratory Therapists work one-on-one with patients of all ages in a variety of settings. A crucial part of the health care team, respiratory therapists improve quality of life by evaluating, treating, and maintaining heart and lung function.
Our program is fully accredited, and graduates are eligible for membership in the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists.
We also offer a 2-year post-diploma option designed to meet the needs of practicing Respiratory Therapists who want to enhance their knowledge and expand career opportunities.
Careers
Respiratory therapists work in hospitals and community settings, including emergency departments, intensive care units, outpatient clinics, sleep labs and patients’ homes. Others work in pulmonary function labs, smoking cessation programs, equipment sales, education and research.
Respiratory therapy is an evolving profession with excellent employment opportunities across Canada.
Future studies could include programs at the graduate level in science or health, or study in a related field, such as nursing, medicine, or pharmacy.
Hourly wages in Nova Scotia range from $30.22 to $45.42, with a median of $40.22.
What you will learn
As a Respiratory Therapy student, you will take core professional development courses with a concentration on respiratory therapy specific knowledge and skills like cardiopulmonary physiology, mechanical ventilation, anesthesia and critical care, then practise the clinical skills in the lab and in placements. The program curriculum will prepare you to write the Canadian Board for Respiratory Care (CBRC) national certification examination.
At Dalhousie, interprofessional collaboration starts in the classroom. Throughout your degree, you will work with students in other health programs to learn from each other, enable effective collaboration and improve patient outcomes.
Sample courses
Cardiopulmonary Physiology
Respiratory Therapy Clinical Assessment
Respiratory Therapy Instrumentation and Techniques
Foundations of Health Care Practice
Human Pregnancy and Fetal/Newborn Development
Respiratory Disease and Therapeutics
Principles of Mechanical Ventilation
Health Practice for Respiratory Therapy
Anaesthesia Instrumentation and Clinical Techniques
Neonatal and Pediatric Therapeutics
Cardiac and Pulmonary Diagnostics
Critical Care Instrumentation and Clinical Techniques
Health Law for non-Lawyers
Canadian Health Care Delivery
Critical Research Appraisal and Practices
This degree will prepare you to work professionally and ethically in our changing health care system, contribute to evidence based decisions and develop effective communication skills.
Clinical placements
You complete a full-time clinical practicum in the spring and summer after Years 1, 2 and 3. In Year 3, you also spend the fall and winter terms in clinical education courses in clinical settings. Most placements are in Atlantic Canada, with some elsewhere in Canada, so plan to travel. Placement sites can change each year.
Customize your degree
Choose Faculty of Health and open electives in Year 4, including specialty practice courses, to shape your clinical focus. You can also earn a Disability Management Certificate with your degree by taking four Disability Management courses.
This degree prepares you to practise professionally and ethically in a changing health care system, contribute to evidence-based decisions and communicate effectively with patients and colleagues.
Admission requirements
Minimum admission requirements
To be considered for admission to this program, you must meet minimum academic criteria:
- Completion of secondary school (Grade 12)
- Achievement of the minimum average for your program of choice.
- Completion of Grade 12 English (or equivalent course).
Admission to many Dalhousie programs is competitive. This means that meeting minimum requirements does not guarantee admission.
Program-specific admission requirements
Minimum overall average: 75%
Academic English 12: Minimum 70%
Academic Math 12: Minimum 70%
Academic Chemistry 12: Minimum 70%
One of: Academic Biology 12 or Academic Physics 12: Minimum 70%
One additional academic subject
This program may employ a competitive average for admission purposes; meeting minimum posted requirements does not guarantee admission.
One seat in the Respiratory Therapy program is reserved for residents from PEI. Priority for all other seats will be given to qualified Nova Scotia residents. If seats remain, residents of other maritime provinces followed by residents across Canada will be considered. Due to residency restrictions and limited capacity, international students are not eligible for admission to this program.
Supplemental information
In addition to completing the Dalhousie application process, you will need to submit the following supplementary documents to be considered for admission to this program. Assessment of your non-academic performance will account for 20% of your overall total application score.
All supplementary information should be attached to the Application Portal.
For more information about non-academic requirements and the letter of intent, please visit our Health Sciences non-academic requirements page.
Before applying to this program, it’s important to understand the intellectual, physical and mental demands of a career in respiratory therapy. These include:
- Working long shifts covering several areas throughout the hospital.
- Being on your feet for extended periods of time.
- Lifting and transporting patients to various sites in the hospital while maintaining ventilation with manual equipment.
- Cleaning and moving ventilators from one area of the hospital to other areas on a regular basis.
- Transporting specialty gas cylinders from one area of the hospital to another.
- Using physical strength and dexterity to attach metering devices to gas cylinders with a wrench.
- Manipulating artificial airway equipment, needles for arterial puncture and application of certain types of oxygen equipment.
- Ability to hear equipment alarms from a distance and distinguish subtle changes in air entry and breath sounds in the lungs and airways.
- Patients are often observed from a distance and heart monitors must be accurately read from at least the end of the patient’s bed, approximately six feet away.
- Exposure to Latex gloves, cleaning chemicals, and biological or chemical hazardous materials.
- Capacity to work in high pressure and emergency situations.
For more information please visit our Health Sciences non-academic requirements page.
If you have any questions or concerns about these requirements, please contact the School of Health Sciences at health.sciences@dal.ca.
