Where a respiratory therapy technician can go next
5 destinations recorded, ranked by how much of the target role a respiratory therapy technician already meets. The closer to the top of Table 1, the less there is to learn.
Respiratory therapy technicians assist doctors and surgeons to treat respiratory problems. They work in hospitals and medical facilities where they operate medical equipment to test patients' respiratory conditions and aid in their treatment. Respiratory therapy technicians also tend to breathing equipment and machines during surgery.
Also known as respiratory care supervisor, respiratory therapist, respiratory technician, breathing technician, oxygen therapy technician, respiratory care assistant.
Technicians and associate professionals 31 skills on file 5 career moves 1 above 60% overlap Closest: clinical perfusion scientist, 72%
- 70% and above · short step
- 50 to 70% · real move
- Below 50% · substantial retraining
Table 1 · Within reach
Table 2 · A bigger jump
Possible, but expect real retraining rather than a sideways step.
Table 3 · What the job itself asks for
A respiratory therapy technician needs 17 required skills and areas of knowledge. These 10 are the ones fewest other jobs share, so they say the most about the work.
- clinical perfusion health and welfare
- operate breathing equipment working with machinery and specialised equipment
- operate heart-lung machines working with machinery and specialised equipment
- respiratory medicine health and welfare
- respiratory therapy health and welfare
- carry out invasive cardiovascular procedures assisting and caring
- hygiene in a health care setting services
- medical terminology health and welfare
- health care legislation business, administration and law
- contribute to continuity of health care assisting and caring
Table 4 · Jobs that lead here
The reverse view: occupations whose skills already cover much of what a respiratory therapy technician does. The figure is how much of this job each one brings.
- speech and language therapist 61% covered · difficulty 43.2
- biomedical scientist 60% covered · difficulty 44.7
- occupational therapist 60% covered · difficulty 44.7
- orthoptist 60% covered · difficulty 44.7
- physiotherapist 58% covered · difficulty 45.1
- dietitian 58% covered · difficulty 46.1
- radiographer 58% covered · difficulty 45.9
- diagnostic radiographer 57% covered · difficulty 47.4
- nuclear medicine radiographer 57% covered · difficulty 47.4
- nurse responsible for general care 54% covered · difficulty 49.7
Look up another occupation
Respiratory therapy technician is filed under Technicians and associate professionals, ISCO major group 3. The full index lists all ten groups.
How these figures were compiled
Overlap is how much of the target role is already part of a respiratory therapy technician’s work. It is directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. Every entry above opens the full comparison for that move: what carries over, what is missing, and where to start. The full method.