Online Respiratory Therapy Degree Helps Students Complete Their Education Anywhere in the World
An MU Student Takes his Midterms on a Boat
By Kathryn Jones

COLUMBIA, Mo. - The University of Missouri-Columbia is dedicated to providing students with the means to get an education, even if they're on a boat sailing toward the Gulf of Mexico. Such is the case of Ben von Harz, a respiratory therapy major who is taking his last semester's classes over the Internet through the School of Health Professions' Online Respiratory Therapy Bachelor's Degree Completion Program.

            On his antique cruiser, von Harz spent the past year and a half sailing down rivers in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama while working on his degree. The unconventional student has been working in respiratory therapy since 1978, but said getting a bachelor's degree will help him achieve his goal of working as a clinical research associate for a leading pharmaceutical company.

            "A bachelor's degree combined with my experience in research and the clinical field will really enhance what I can do in respiratory therapy," von Harz said. "It's been my plan for awhile to do some traveling, so the program nicely coincides with going to school full time or taking some time off to travel. The focus of online education is more on assimilation, understanding and the ability to use the subject material rather than the traditional method of memorize and regurgitate."

            The Online Respiratory Therapy Bachelor's Degree Program combines online course work and community-based clinical experience. Although students take classes over the Internet, they can still experience traditional classroom learning such as research projects, peer discussion and instructor feedback. Rosemary Hogan, director of the program, said students must have an associate's degree in respiratory therapy, be credentialed as a Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT), and have completed at least one year of professional work to enroll in the program.

            "Since they are already registered respiratory therapists, our online students take more research-based, higher level critical-thinking courses," Hogan said. "They still need to meet other university requirements, such as having two writing intensive courses and a capstone experience, but their professional course load is more individualized. They have access to the course work at 4 in the morning, so they're not tied to a tight schedule like our campus students. There are very few programs across the United States offering the bachelor's degree in respiratory therapy. The online program at MU allows a greater number of practitioners to obtain this degree by making it more accessible in rural areas or in areas that don't have a four-year institution."

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