What is a Respiratory Therapist?
Career information provided the the American Association for Respiratory Care. This site covers what RTs do, where they work, the use of high-tech equipment, advancement opportunities, employment outlook and how to get started.

MedlinePlus
Medline Plus is a great source to help answer health questions. It brings together authoritative information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other governmental agencies and health-related organizations.

University of Iowa Virtual Hospital
Health information for respiratory problems.

HighWire Press
HighWire Press is a division of the Stanford University Libraries, hosts the largest repository of free full-text life science articles in the world with nearly 2 million articles available without subscription. HighWire partners with influential scholarly societies, university presses and publishers to create a collection of the finest, fully searchable research and clinical literature online. Together, these partners produce 71 of the 200 most-frequently-cited journals publishing in science.

Respiratory Care Online
Respiratory Care is the official science journal of the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC). It is published monthly, and is listed in Index Medicus and included in ISI’s Web of Science. Its contents are searchable via PubMed and most widely-used search engines. In continuous publication since 1956, Respiratory Care is edited by Dean R Hess PhD RRT FAARC of the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Full-text versions of journal articles are available beginning in January 2003 and require the free Adobe Reader to view. The site also makes available podcasts which summarize the papers published in each issue of the Journal. Each podcast episode briefly touches on papers’ main points, and concludes with a personal assessment from the Editor in Chief of Respiratory Care ( Dean R Hess PhD RRT FAARC). Dr Hess explains the clinical importance of the papers presented in each issue and imparts what he considers the “take home messages.”

Respiratory Care Education Annual
This annual publication showcases scholarly work within the educational community to promote best practices and research in respiratory care education. You must have Adobe Acrobat to read these files. The archive carries 1996-2008 full-text issues.

American Association for Respiratory Care
Since 1947, the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) has been committed to enhancing the professionalism of respiratory care practitioners, improving performance on the job, and helping to broaden the scope of knowledge essential for success. With more than 47,000 members nationwide, the AARC is the only professional society for respiratory therapists in hospitals and with home care companies, managers of respiratory and cardiopulmonary services, and educators who provide respiratory care training. The Respiratory Care Links provides a comprehensive list of affiliated organizations, AARC state societies, government and health care organizations. Several excellent resources are also available.

American College of Chest Physicians
"The American College of Chest Physicians is the world's largest cardiopulmonary and critical care medical society with over 17,000 members in 100 countries. Members include physicians, allied health professional and PhDs from the specialties of pulmonology, critical care medicine, thoracic surgery, cardiology, sleep and other chest-related specalties. AACP publishes the journal CHEST which features cutting-edge original research. CHEST also features Recent Advances, Topics in Practice Management, Medical Writing Tips, Pearls, Chest Imaging and Pathology for Clinicians, Contemporary Reviews, and more. Editorials and communications to the editor explore controversial issues and encourage further discussion by physicians dealing with chest medicine."

American Lung Association
"ALA is the oldest voluntary health organization in the United States. Founded to fight tuberculosis, the American Lung Association today fights lung disease in all its forms, with emphasis on asthma, tobacco control and environmental health.

American Thoracic Society
The ATC supports and educates healthcare professions in the areas of pulmonology, critical care, sleep medicine, infectious disease, pediatrics, allergy/immunology, thoracic surgery, behavior science, as well as environmental and occupational medicine.

California Society for Respiratory Care
"The California Society for Respiratory Care (CSRC), as an affiliate of the American Association of Respiratory Care (AARC), is a non-profit professional organization, whose mission is to represent and support our members through public and legislative advocacy, educational opportunities, and to continuously strive for excellence in the cardiopulmonary profession. The CSRC strives to be the elite provider of education, consumer information and the benchmark for professionalism."