Respiratory care
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Transitioning from an associate degree to a baccalaureate degree for respiratory therapists has been suggested as a new entry-level educational standard. One potential risk for this change is that it may limit the diversity of potential applicants for entry-level education. A diverse workforce is important to achieve the goal of reducing healthcare disparities. This study evaluated characteristics of therapists who completed associate and baccalaureate degree entry-level education. ⋯ Current entry-level associate and baccalaureate degree graduates have similar gender and race proportions. This finding challenges concerns that an entry-level baccalaureate degree would decrease the diversity of the respiratory therapist workforce.