
Media Contact
Vanessa Hall Brown
College Web Manager
Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions
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ATLANTA—The Department of Respiratory Therapy at Georgia State University has received the 2023-2024 American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) Apex Recognition Award, which recognizes departments that demonstrate high-quality outcomes.
AARC cited Georgia State’s best practices in educating future respiratory therapy practitioners and placed the program among an elite group of respiratory care educational programs in the U.S. to receive the award. The respiratory therapy program in the Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions is one of only two higher education institutes to receive the award three times consecutively, along with Rush (Ill.) University.
“We’re proud to have a nationally recognized respiratory therapy program, especially following the recent challenging years for respiratory therapy professionals,” said Dr. Huanbiao Mo, Lewis College dean.
“We are humbled to receive our third consecutive APEX award from the AARC,” said Dr. Doug Gardenhire, RT department chair. “This award symbolizes the foundation created almost 54 years ago that has produced over 1,500 respiratory therapists, providing them the highest level of education through a dedicated faculty.”
Established in 1969, the Department of Respiratory Therapy has graduated more than 1,590 respiratory therapists and maintained a 100 percent pass rate on licensure exams for multiple years in a row. Georgia State was the second college or university nationwide to offer a bachelor’s degree in respiratory therapy, the first to offer a professional master’s as well as the first Ph.D. in health sciences with a concentration in respiratory therapy.