Allied Health Major, B.S. (Cardiopulmonary Science Concentration)

College of Clinical and Rehabilitative Health Sciences

Department of Allied Health Sciences

Cardiopulmonary Science Concentration

Accredited by:

Committee on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
1248 Harwood Rd.
Bedford, TX 76021-4244
(817) 283-2835

Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
1361 Park St.
Clearwater, FL 33756
(727) 210-2350

The Respiratory Therapist applies scientific knowledge and theory to practical clinical problems of respiratory care. Respiratory Therapists are qualified to assume primary responsibility for all respiratory care modalities, including the supervision of certified respiratory care practitioners. The Respiratory Therapist may be required to exercise considerable independent clinical judgment, under the supervision of a physician in the treatment of patients with respiratory dysfunction. The Respiratory Care Practitioner may perform the following respiratory care modalities: advanced airway management, pediatric and neonatal critical care, hemodynamic monitoring, metabolic cart studies, cardiopulmonary stress testing, and other advanced procedures.

Upon successful completion of the requirements for the Cardiopulmonary Science concentration, students are eligible to apply for admission to sit for three examinations administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care. Candidates are required to pass the Certified Respiratory Therapist entry-level examination as a prerequisite to the two advanced practitioner examinations.

Licensure requirements for respiratory care practitioners vary according to state statutes. In Tennessee, practitioners are required to pass the national examinations for certified and/or registered respiratory therapist respectively.

Students that have successfully completed an Associate of Applied Science in Cardiopulmonary Science (Respiratory Therapy) or Radiography are eligible for enrollment into an online BS completion program in their discipline. Associate of Applied Science graduates are required to contact and be advised by the Department’s admission coordinator after completion of ALHE 3010, Allied Health Professions.

Prerequisite General Education and Allied Health

These prerequisite courses MUST be completed prior to enrolling in the Cardiopulmonary Science and Radiography concentration courses.

Note: These prerequisite courses are included in the General Education and Allied Health core.

• HSCI 2010 - Anatomy and Physiology I (4 credits)
• HSCI 2011 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory I (0 credit)
• HSCI 2020 - Anatomy and Physiology II (4 credits)
• HSCI 2021 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory II (0 credit)
• HSCI 2230 - Introduction to Microbiology (4 credits)
• HSCI 2231 - Introduction to Microbiology Laboratory (0 credit)
• ALHE 2010 - Introduction to Allied Health (2 credits)
• ALHE 2020 - Patient Care and Assessment (3 credits)
• MATH 1530 - Probability and Statistics – Noncalculus (3 credits)
• CHEM 1030 - Introduction to Chemistry Survey (4 credits)
• PHYS 1030 - Introduction to Physics Survey (4 credits) *

General Program Information

To earn a degree from ETSU, there are specific course requirements put forth by ETSU, by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), by each college, and by each department. All students must meet the degree requirements at each of these levels. Please follow the format below:

University-level Degree and Graduation Requirements

• Degree and Graduation Requirements 
• Completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours is required.
• CSCI 1100  or the proficiency exam
• Proficiency Intensive Course Requirements
• Senior Exit Exam
• Additional Requirements for Transfer Students
• Second Bachelor Degrees
• Double Majors/Double Degrees

Total Credit Hours for Degree: 120

TBR General Education Requirements: 41 Credit Hours

Below you will see the categories and courses specified under TBR General Education Requirements. Note that certain courses are required for this degree, specific to this major. Thus, these courses will satisfy both a TBR General Education requirement AND a requirement of this major. (Other majors may require different General Education courses.) Where specific courses are required for this major, we only list those courses under the category. If there are no specific major requirements for a category, all course options appear.

Communication

9 credits, consisting of 6 credits of written composition and 3 credits of oral communication.

Written Composition

Complete both of the following: 

• ENGL 1010 - Critical Reading and Expository Writing (3 credits)
• ENGL 1020 - Critical Thinking and Argumentation (3 credits)

• Students required to complete learning support in writing must enroll in both ENGL 1011  and in ENGL 1010 . Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in ENGL 1010  and ENGL 1020 .

Oral Communication

Complete one of the following:

• SPCH 1300 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3 credits)
• SPCH 2300 - Public Speaking (3 credits)
• SPCH 2320 - Argumentation and Debate (3 credits)

• When one of the oral communication courses listed above is completed to meet the general education core requirement, that course will not count toward ETSU’s oral communication-intensive requirement. (See “Other Graduation Requirements.”) Any additional course from this list that is completed will count toward the oral communication-intensive requirement.

Humanities and Fine Arts

9 credits, consisting of 3 credits of literature, 3 credits of fine arts, and 3 credits of humanities electives.

Literature

Complete one of the following: 

• ENGL 2030 - Literary Heritage (3 credits)
• ENGL 2110 - American Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2120 - American Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2210 - British Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2220 - British Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2330 - World Literature (3 credits)
• ENGL 2430 - European Literature (3 credits)

Fine Arts

Complete one of the following:

• ARTH 2010 - Art History Survey I (3 credits)
• ARTH 2020 - Art History Survey II (3 credits)
• DANC 3500 - Dance as a Human Experience (3 credits)
• HUMT 2310 - Arts and Ideas I (3 credits)
• HUMT 2320 - Arts and Ideas II (3 credits)
• MUSC 1030 - Introduction to Music (3 credits)
• MUSC 1035 - History of Jazz (3 credits)
• THEA 1030 - Introduction to the Theatre (3 credits)

Humanities Electives

Complete one of the following:

• ENGL 3150 - Literature, Ethics, and Values (3 credits)
• ENGL 3280 - Mythology (3 credits)
• ENTC 3020 - Technology and Society (3 credits)
• HIST 1110 - World History and Civilization to 1500 (3 credits)
• HIST 1120 - World History and Civilizations Since 1500 (3 credits)
• PHIL 1030 - Introduction to Philosophy (3 credits)
• PHIL 2020 - Introduction to Ethics (3 credits)
• PHIL 2040 - Philosophy as Conversation (3 credits)
• PHIL 2640 - Science and the Modern World (3 credits)
• RELI 2210 - Introduction to the Study of World Religions (3 credits)

Social and Behavioral Sciences

6 credits, consisting of:

• PSYC 1310 - Introduction to Psychology (3 credits)

• and one of the following:

• ANTH 1240 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3 credits)
• ECON 1050 - Economics and Society (3 credits)
• ECON 2210 - Principles of Macroeconomics (3 credits)
• ECON 2220 - Principles of Microeconomics (3 credits)
• GEOG 1012 - Introduction to Cultural Geography (3 credits)
• HDAL 2310 - Developmental Psychology (3 credits)
• HDAL 2340 - Understanding Cultural Diversity (3 credits)
• PSCI 1110 - Political Life (3 credits)
• PSCI 1120 - Introduction to American Government (3 credits)
• SOCI 1020 - Introduction to Sociology (3 credits)
• SOCI 2020 - Social Problems (3 credits)
• SRVL 1020 - Introduction to Service-Learning in the Community (3 credits)
• WMST 2010 - Introduction to Women’s Studies (3 credits)

History

6 credits, consisting of both of the following:

• HIST 2010 - The United States to 1877 (3 credits)
• HIST 2020 - The United States since 1877 (3 credits)

• Note:  HIST 2030 History of Tennessee  (3 credits) may be substituted for 3 credits of United States History.

Natural Sciences

8 credits, consisting of the following lectures and labs.

• HSCI 2010 - Anatomy and Physiology I (4 credits)
• HSCI 2011 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory I (0 credit)
• HSCI 2020 - Anatomy and Physiology II (4 credits)
• HSCI 2021 - Anatomy and Physiology Laboratory II (0 credit)

Mathematics

Students eligible to enroll in this math course must do so during their first calendar year of enrollment or prior to accumulating 33 semester credits at ETSU.

• MATH 1530 - Probability and Statistics – Noncalculus (3 credits)

Allied Health Core: 25 Credit Hours

• CHEM 1030 - Introduction to Chemistry Survey (4 credits)

• or

• CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry Lecture I (4 credits)

• and

• CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry Laboratory I (0 credit)

•  

• HSCI 2230 - Introduction to Microbiology (4 credits)
• HSCI 2231 - Introduction to Microbiology Laboratory (0 credit)
• ALHE 2010 - Introduction to Allied Health (2 credits)
• ALHE 2020 - Patient Care and Assessment (3 credits)
• ALHE 4060 - Research in Allied Health (3 credits)
• ALHE 4070 - Leadership in Allied Health (3 credits)
• ALHE 4100 - Information Management for Allied Health Professionals (3 credits)
• ENVH 3030 - Law and Ethics for Allied Health (3 credits)

Professional Curriculum Cardiopulmonary Science Concentration: 54 Credit Hours

• CPSC 3000 - Foundations of Cardiopulmonary Science (4 credits)
• CPSC 3010 - Foundations of Cardiopulmonary Science Lab (3 credits)
• CPSC 3040 - Pharmacology in Cardiopulmonary Science (3 credits)
• CPSC 3100 - Cardiopulmonary Critical Care (3 credits)
• CPSC 3110 - Cardiopulmonary Critical Care Lab (3 credits)
• CPSC 3140 - Cardiopulmonary Disease Pathology (3 credits)
• CPSC 3150 - Clinical Education I (3 credits)
• CPSC 3350 - Clinical Education II (4 credits)
• CPSC 3550 - Patient Centered Practice (3 credits)
• CPSC 4100 - Advanced Cardiopulmonary Critical Care (3 credits)
• CPSC 4150 - Clinical Education III (3 credits)
• CPSC 4200 - Neonatal and Pediatric Cardiopulmonary Care (3 credits)
• CPSC 4350 - Clinical Education IV (3 credits)
• CPSC 4500 - Cardiopulmonary Diagnostic and Therapeutic Care (3 credits)
• PHYS 1030 - Introduction to Physics Survey (4 credits)
• COBH 4607 - Gerontology and Health (3 credits)
• ALHE 4030 - Professional Issues in Allied Health (3 credits)

Minor: no minor required

Additional Information

Click here to view the Cardiopulmonary Science Concentration Suggested Course Sequence