Your bachelor's degree in Respiratory Care includes two or more years of course work and a 15-month full-time professional-level internship with a specialty clinical rotation.  Since 1989, Sanford Medical Center Fargo has partnered with NDSU to offer the professional internship which consists of lecture, lab, and clinical education that prepares the student to write national certifying exams and enter the profession of Respiratory Care. The national certifying exams to become a registered respiratory therapist (RRT) are administered by the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC).

The NDSU/Sanford Health Respiratory Care Program (CoARC #200367) is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC; www.coarc.com), (817) 283-2835. CoARC accredits respiratory therapy education programs in the United States. To achieve this end, it utilizes an ‘outcomes based’ process. Programmatic outcomes are performance indicators that reflect the extent to which the educational goals of the program are achieved and by which program effectiveness is documented.

Application & Admission

Admission to the internship is selective and based upon successful completion of all internship prerequisites, cumulative and core-course grade point averages, career motivation, references, and an interview, in addition to complying with criminal background, technical standards, and student conduct requirements.

Students apply for internship during the year they complete all coursework. You will work closely with your NDSU RC advisor to prepare for a successful internship application.

To be eligible to apply for an internship, Respiratory Care applicants must meet the following requirements: 

• Declared pre-RC major at NDSU
• Achieve a minimum cumulative and core course GPA of at least 2.50 at the time of application. Core courses are: human anatomy and physiology and labs, general chemistry and labs, organic and biochemistry, microbiology and lab, physics, medical terminology and college algebra. The number of attempts of core courses will be limited to two
• Complete all internship pre-requisite courses with a “C” or better by start of the internship.  Pre-requisite courses include the core courses listed above plus RC 200-Introduction to Respiratory Care, general psychology, microcomputer packages, and introductory statistics
• Earn a C or better in all courses to be used to fulfill major and degree requirements
• Meet the program-designated technical standards (mental and physical requirements) or request reasonable accommodations to meet these standards
• Comply with criminal background and student conduct requirements

Applications are available from the NDSU Department of Allied Sciences.  Deadline for submission of applications to Sanford Medical Center Fargo is March 1.  An admission committee makes the selections. Students may apply for the RC internship a maximum of two times.  

Respiratory Care Tuition & Fees

During the professional program/internship, students enroll at NDSU and pay tuition and student fees to NDSU at the student's regular resident rate.  Students who qualify to receive financial aid through NDSU may continue to do so during the internship. 

According to the agreements that NDSU has with Sanford Medical Center Fargo, NDSU sends Sanford Medical Center Fargo a designated portion of tuition collected from the student each semester to assist in covering the hospital expenses associated with internship participation.  Internships are exempt from tuition discounts that reduce tuition below the ND resident rate. 

Besides NDSU tuition and student fees, student interns will also pay tuition directly to Sanford Medical Center Fargo to cover expenses associated with educational materials, laboratory equipment and supplies, and mock board exams.  You are also responsible for purchasing your textbooks (approximately $1000.00), uniforms, and providing their own living accommodations and transportation during the internship.  The hospital program will provide students accepted into the internship with more information about related program expenses.