Background
The AARC Executive Director was directed by the AARC President to organize a series of conferences ( 2015 and Beyond Conferences) to address the following questions:
- What will the future health care system look like?
- What will the roles and responsibilities of respiratory therapists be in the future system?
- What competencies will be required for RTs to succeed in the future?
- How do we transition the profession from where it is today to where we need to be in the future?
To accomplish this goal, a planning group of individuals representing key stakeholders of the profession was selected to plan and implement a series of three conferences.
The first two questions were established as the goals for Conference I, which convened in the spring of 2008. A manuscript describing the outcomes of this conference was published in Respiratory Care in March of 2008.
Based on the findings of the first conference, a second conference was convened in the spring of 2009 to identify the competencies required to fulfill the roles previously identified. The envisioned competencies were embedded in a manuscript that included the conference proceedings published in Respiratory Care in May of 2010.
Following the publication of that manuscript, a third conference was convened in July 2010. This conference was to identify options for transitioning the profession to meet the envisioned future demands. A manuscript describing the proceedings of this conference and the recommendations of the conferee stakeholders has been published in the Journal.
All actions taken in reference to this project by the AARC Board of Directors are reported in the AARC Membership Updates.
Documents Related to the 2015 and Beyond Project
Conference Reports (published in Respiratory Care)
- Conference I: Creating a Vision for Respiratory Care in 2015 and Beyond
- Conference II: Competencies Needed by Graduate Respiratory Therapists in 2015 and Beyond
- Conference III: Transitioning the Respiratory Therapy Workforce for 2015 and Beyond
Reports of Surveys Conducted Prior to Conference III (published in Respiratory Care)
- Survey of Directors of Respiratory Therapy Departments Regarding the Future Education and Credentialing
- Survey of Respiratory Therapy Education Program Directors in the United States of Respiratory Care Students and Staff
AARC Membership Updates
Reports
- Executive Office Resource Survey Report to the Board of Directors (April 2013)
- Ad Hoc Committee on 2015 & Beyond BOD Report (April 2012)
- Executive Director’s Final Report to the Board of Directors (November 2010)
