American Association for Respiratory Care

Pre-Summer Forum Programs

Thursday July 15, 2010
Marriott Marco Island, Florida

9:00 A.M.–12:00 noon

National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) Item Writing Workshop

Free of charge. Approved for 3.0 hours of CRCE credits. For additional information, contact Robert Shaw at rshaw@nbrc.org.

12:00 noon–2:00 P.M.

Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)

Meet the Commission (formerly Meet Your Referee)

The format has been changed from a scheduled meeting with a particular referee, to a panel-style question and answer session. The purpose of this new format is to respond to questions related to the following:

• Recent changes to CoARC policies, procedures, and documentation involving the referee process;
• Interpretation of the new CoARC accreditation standards;
• What is required for accreditation and what is recommended for improvement of the institution or program; and
• How to communicate appropriately and effectively with their program referee and Executive Office staff.

Pre-submit any questions that you would like to be addressed to:

Shelley Christensen at shelley@coarc.com or call (817) 283-2835 ext. 100.

2:00 P.M.–6:00 P.M.

Community Input Phase: 2015 and Beyond Planning

This session is open to the entire respiratory community. Although there is no fee associated with this session, you must pre-register. Deadline: Monday, June 28.

In 2007 the AARC initiated a far-reaching project titled 2015 and Beyond—Charting a Future for the Respiratory Therapy Profession. The purpose of this initiative was to lead the respiratory therapy profession into the future while ensuring the quality and availability of respiratory therapy services keep pace with the demands of the rapidly changing health care delivery system. Representatives from key stakeholder groups were invited to participate in a series of three conferences. The first conference, convened in March 2008, examined how health care would be delivered in the future and identified current and future roles for respiratory therapists as well as services that would be needed consistent with the changing health care system.¹ A second conference addressed the competencies required to deliver these services and was held in April 2009. The resulting manuscript will be published in the May 2010 issue of Respiratory Care. The third and final conference will be held in early summer of 2010. It will identify educational tactics and strategies in order to develop a transition plan for undergraduates and current workforce to acquire these competencies and the options for documenting them while minimizing the impact on the workforce.

Before these recommendations from the third conference are finalized, they will be presented to the respiratory therapy community on Thursday, July 15, 2010 during this half-day session. Those attending this session will gain an understanding of the project methodology, the data and information that emerged, and the resulting recommendations. A primary focus of this community input phase is to elicit feedback from the participants that will be considered in formulating the final recommendations resulting from this historic process.

CRCE credit will not be awarded for attending this event.

1Kacmarek RM, Durbin CG, Barnes TA, Kageler WV, Walton JR, O’Neil EH, Creating a Vision for Respiratory Care in 2015 and Beyond, Respiratory Care, 2009;54(3):375-389