If you are considering a career in Respiratory Therapy, spending a day with a respiratory therapist is a great way to determine if this career is right for you. To be considered for program admission, all respiratory therapy applicants must perform 12 hours of observation in respiratory therapy in an acute care medical facility. Listed below are preferred hospital sites for performing your 12 hours of observation. If you do not live in close proximity to any of the hospitals listed below and would like to perform observation at a local hospital near you, you must first receive pre-approval from the USI Respiratory Therapy Program Chair by calling 812-464-1778 before scheduling the observation time.
To gain more from your observational experience, we recommend completing an observation at an acute care hospital with an active critical care unit or an acute care hospital with at least 100 beds, if possible.
Below are hospitals throughout Indiana and Kentucky you might be interested in, which also fit these criteria.
Appropriate Dress / Policies
Appropriate dress will be required during your observation. In general, jeans, shorts, T-shirts, sandals, and athletic shoes are considered inappropriate. If you have any questions about proper attire, discuss them with your contact person prior to your observation. Some hospitals have additional requirements, such as proof of TB test. You need to discuss any hospital specific requirements prior to your visit. Also, please be aware that strict confidentiality regarding patient care is expected and required by law during your observation.
If you’re in the Evansville area, we recommend contacting Deaconess Hospital or St. Vincent Evansville to see if you can schedule an observation. The following clinical affiliates of the program are excellent places to arrange for an observation. Please note – You must provide the clinical affiliate 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule. Failure to do so may adversely affect you application to the program. Please make arrangements for your observation no later than October 1st.
Deaconess Hospital
600 Mary St., Evansville, IN
- Contact Human Resources at Kelly.Woods@deaconess.com to complete all required paperwork
- Contact the Education Coordinator of Respiratory Therapy at 812-450-2448 or 812-450-2447 to schedule your observation after all required documentation has been submitted to Human Resources.
- For more information about Deaconess Hospital, go to the Deaconess website.
St. Vincent Evansville
3700 Washington Ave., Evansville, IN 47714
- Click on the attachment to print the Job Shadow application form and follow the instructions to complete all required paperwork.
- Contact the Clinical Coordinator of Respiratory Therapy via email at nmorgan@ascension.org to schedule your observation after all required documentation has been submitted
- For more information about St. Vincent Evansville, go to the St. Vincent website.
Indiana University Health Academic Health Center
IU Health University Hospital, Riley Hospital for Children and IU Health Methodist Hospital
Cheri Bate, MA, RRT, 317-962-6174 or cbate@iuhealth.org
Adult Inpatient
Indiana University Health Methodist and University Hospitals
1701 N. Senate Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46202
Contact Joel Meacham, BS, RRT, at 317-962-5063 or jmeacha2@iuhealth.org
More information is available on the IU Health Methodist website or the IU Health University website.
Neonatal/Pediatrics
Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health and IU Health Methodist Hospital
705 Riley Hospital Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Contact Eric Sageser, BSRC, RRT-NPS, CPFT, at 317-944-1002 or psageser@iuhealth.org
More information is available on the IU Health Riley Hospital website or the IU Health Methodist website.
To schedule an observation at any of the following hospitals in Indiana or Kentucky:
- Identify the hospital you’re interested in.
- Click on the corresponding hospital’s link.
- Locate the hospital’s phone number.
- Contact the hospital and ask to be connected to the Respiratory Therapy department.
- Ask for the contact name and phone number to schedule an observation/job shadow.
Indiana
- Bloomington – IU Health Bloomington
- Columbus – Columbus Regional Health
- Fort Wayne – Lutheran Hospital
- Fort Wayne – Parkview Regional Medical Center
- Gary – Methodist Hospital
- Indianapolis – Franciscan Health
- Indianapolis – St. Vincent Hospital
- Jeffersonville – Clark Memorial Hospital
- Muncie – IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital
- New Albany – Baptist Health Floyd
- Richmond – Reid Health
- South Bend – Memorial Hospital
- Terre Haute – Terre Haute Regional Hospital
- Terre Haute – Union Health
Kentucky
- Elizabethtown – Baptist Health Hardin
- Henderson – Deaconess Hospital Henderson
- Hopkinsville – Jennie Stewart Health
- Louisville – Jewish Hospital
- Louisville – Norton Healthcare
- Madisonville – Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville
- Owensboro – Owensboro Health
- Paducah – Baptist Health Paducah
Updated 8/8/2023
To schedule an observation appointment, you must contact the Respiratory Therapy department to arrange a convenient date and time.
Please be aware that it may take up to five working days for the contact person to respond to your request. If you need assistance locating a hospital, please contact any of the following faculty:
Jody Delp, Department Chair and Clinical Assistant Professor, at 812-464-1778 or jmdelp@usi.edu
Mary Phillips, Assistant Professor, at 812-465-1148 or mlphillips5@usi.edu
Elizabeth Schnarr, Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Professor, at 812-465-1284 or easchnarr@usi.edu