Surviving RT School

I am almost finished with RT school. So, even though I am far from reaching an expert status, I do believe that I have a few pointers to get the new RT student through the tough times to come.

1.) Be organized. This seems trivial but DONT forget your supplies: book, paper, pencils, etc. Always bring your supplies to class. Be prepared to take notes. In fact, even when you are in your final semester of class there will be plenty of times when you wish you had taken better notes in the first sememster because you will continually refer back to past studies, formulas, facts, and figures. Everything is important, if not now, later. I always have my binder with me. My binder is organized with tabs and a calendar section, extras section, and board review section. My teachers give me some extra just FYI sort of things: Job postings, conferences, things like this. I keep these in the "Extra" tab. The most important tab I keep in my binder is "Board Review". Everytime I come across a formula or something I think is important or that might be used in the future, I flip over to this section and I jot the information down. My hope is that when school ends and its time to study and review for the board exam, most of the information I need to study will be compiled into one organized place. Also for this same reason, keep your study guides, and your books! I realize that you will get money for selling your books back, but these books will be used for referrence for a long time. Don't sell them back. Print a calendar and keep it in the front of your binder. Use this calendar to write down important dates, tests, quizzes, conferences, etc.

2.) Your resume. If you dont have a resume, make one now. If you already have a resume, update it. Make your medical/educational resume. During the tenure of your RT school, you will be exposed to TONS of things you will be able to add to your resume. This includes conferences, training affiliations, lab certifications, presentations given, etc. Have your resume updated and ready at all times. Have a hard copy and a printed copy handy. Most applications are online and will require you to submit a hard copy, however, several smaller hospitals do not and will require you to mail or fax your application and resume. Compile a list of referrences. This includes people you have worked with, your instructors, your clinical director, respiratory therapists you have trained with in clinicals, respiratory directors, etc. Ask them for permission to use them as a referrence and add them to your resume.

3.) Record your experiences. Whatever method you prefer, use it. Blog, journal, write a book. Your two years of RT school only happen once. Write about your clinicals. Write about what you learn, what you dont understand, what you love, what you hate. It will be fun to look back on this later. What you do is important and consuming. Be proud of it. Let others know what you do and why you love it!

4.) Make time for fun. Never use every minute you have for studying. Dont lose sight of who you are and what you love to do. So do your homeowork, go to class, love the medical field. But keep up with your friends and extra activites that you love to do.

5.) Get a student job. You can get a student job after one year of studies. That means that for the last year of school, you can also be working in your field and getting paid for doing it. Granted, you will not get as much money as a certified or registered therapist, but that is only fair. Working as a student will give you more hands on experience than school work and even clinicals. Many hospitals will even refund your tuition for working for them. To get a student job, you will need to print of the student application for your state. You can find this online and your teachers should be able to help you with the resources on this. When you get the application, a portion is yours to fill out, and also your instructors need to complete a portion. And the preceptor where you plan to work will have to complete a section. The application will need to be notorized is several different places and you will need to attach a recent picture of yourself. Print the application because it is sometimes time consuming to complete. The exact process as well as the cost of the application is different for each state. So get it printed and get it ready before you need it. When you get an interview, be professional. Dress professionally. Act respectful. You are a respiratory therapist. Respect your profession and others will follow.

The decision I made to go to RT school is one of the best things Ive done. I really feel fullfilled with what I do and the profession I've chosen. If you have already made that decision and you are in Respiratory school, I don't think that "surviving" it will be a complication that comes up. If you do what you love, then you will love what you do, and that will show in all aspects of your life.