68V Career Guide
68V: Respiratory Therapist
Career transition guide for Army Respiratory Therapist (68V)
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Real industry tech roles your 68V background maps to — picked from BLS-anchored occupations using your training, cognitive skills, and systems experience.
Health IT Specialist
Vertical Specialty
Your experience with Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems like MHS GENESIS directly translates to civilian Health IT roles. You're familiar with documenting treatment results, administering drugs as ordered and troubleshooting. Focus on learning specific EHR systems like Epic or Cerner.
Typical stack:
Data Analyst
Data
As a Respiratory Therapist, you're calculating and running blood gas analyses. The data analysis and interpretation skills you use daily are directly applicable to a Data Analyst role, where you'll analyze datasets to identify trends and insights. Your rapid prioritization skills honed in high-pressure medical situations will be valuable.
Typical stack:
Computer Systems Analyst
Customer / Field
You perform equipment maintenance and training junior personnel. You can apply your knowledge in equipment and train other medical care personnel on respiratory support and assists in research on practical teams into a systems analyst role. Your familiarity with medical devices like ventilators and blood gas analyzers gives you a domain advantage.
Typical stack:
Skills You Already Have
Concrete bridges from 68V experience to tech-industry practice.
- Patient Assessment and Monitoring→ Data Analysis and Interpretation
- Procedural Compliance→ Adherence to Coding Standards and Regulations
- Rapid Prioritization→ Project Management and Incident Response
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) - MHS GENESIS→ Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems
Skills to Learn
The concrete gap to bridge — specific to the roles above, not generic.
How VWC fits
Vets Who Code accelerates the parts we teach — software engineering fundamentals, web development, AI tooling. For everything else above, the path is doable independently with the resources we link to.
See VWC ProgramsCivilian Career Pathways
Top civilian roles for 68V veterans, with average salary and market demand data.
Respiratory Therapist
Registered Nurse (RN)
Skills to develop:
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) / Paramedic
Skills to develop:
Medical Equipment Repairer
Skills to develop:
Healthcare Administrator
Skills to develop:
Salary estimates from VWC career data
Hidden Strengths
Cognitive skills your 68V training built — and where they transfer.
Rapid Prioritization
In emergency situations, 68Vs must quickly assess patients' respiratory distress, prioritize immediate interventions like administering oxygen or initiating CPR, and coordinate with other medical personnel to stabilize the patient efficiently.
This ability to rapidly assess and prioritize in high-pressure situations translates to civilian roles where quick decision-making is critical, such as project management or emergency response coordination.
Procedural Compliance
68Vs are trained to strictly adhere to medical protocols, safety guidelines, and regulatory requirements during patient care, equipment operation, and medication administration to ensure patient safety and maintain quality standards.
This commitment to following procedures precisely is valuable in civilian roles that require strict adherence to regulations, such as quality assurance, compliance management, or laboratory management.
Situational Awareness
68Vs must constantly monitor patients' conditions, anticipate potential complications, and adapt their treatment plans based on changing circumstances. This includes being aware of equipment malfunctions, environmental hazards, and the overall dynamics of the medical environment.
This heightened awareness of surroundings and the ability to anticipate problems is directly applicable to civilian roles in risk management, security coordination, or operations management, where predicting and mitigating potential issues is key.
Team Synchronization
As part of a medical team, 68Vs coordinate with physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to deliver comprehensive patient care. They must effectively communicate, share information, and synchronize their actions to achieve optimal patient outcomes.
This skill in coordinating with diverse teams is valuable in any project-oriented environment in the civilian world. You can bring this to roles such as a construction project manager or a technical project manager, where managing all facets of a project with many contributors is critical.
Non-Obvious Career Matches
Emergency Management Specialist
SOC 29-9099.03You've been trained to handle crises with precision and speed, coordinating resources and personnel under pressure. Your experience in assessing medical situations, adhering to protocols, and maintaining situational awareness makes you exceptionally well-prepared to develop and execute emergency response plans for communities and organizations.
Healthcare Risk Manager
SOC 11-9111.00Your background in respiratory care has given you a deep understanding of medical procedures, potential hazards, and safety protocols. You're adept at identifying risks, implementing preventative measures, and ensuring compliance with regulations, which are all essential skills for managing risks within healthcare facilities.
Clinical Research Coordinator
SOC 13-1199.00You're experienced in conducting assessments, collecting data, and managing patient care within structured protocols. Your attention to detail, procedural compliance, and ability to work as part of a team make you an ideal candidate to coordinate clinical trials, ensuring data integrity and patient safety while advancing medical knowledge.
Training & Education Equivalencies
Medical Education and Training Campus, Fort Sam Houston
Topics Covered
- •Respiratory Anatomy and Physiology
- •Mechanical Ventilation
- •Airway Management
- •Pulmonary Function Testing
- •Blood Gas Analysis
- •Pharmacology for Respiratory Care
- •Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- •Patient Assessment and Monitoring
Certification Pathways
Partial Coverage
Advanced respiratory therapy techniques, specific disease management protocols, and the National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) exam format.
In-depth knowledge of pulmonary function testing methodologies, interpretation of results, and quality control procedures specific to civilian standards.
Specific instructional techniques and any updates to the BLS guidelines as per the American Heart Association.
Recommended Next Certifications
Technical Systems Translation
Military systems you've used and their civilian equivalents for your resume.
| Military System | Civilian Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Ventilators (Various Models: Dräger, Hamilton, etc.) | ICU Ventilator Systems (Dräger, Hamilton Medical, etc.) |
| Blood Gas Analyzers (e.g., Radiometer ABL90 FLEX) | Point-of-Care Blood Gas Analysis Systems (e.g., Radiometer, Roche) |
| Patient Transport Ventilators (e.g., Impact Instrumentation) | Portable Ventilators for EMS and Critical Care Transport (e.g., Zoll, Philips) |
| Spirometers (for Pulmonary Function Testing) | Clinical Spirometry Equipment (e.g., Vyaire Medical, COSMED) |
| Defibrillators (e.g., Zoll, Physio-Control) | Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and Manual Defibrillators (e.g., Zoll, Philips) |
| Electronic Health Records (EHR) - MHS GENESIS | Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner) |
| Sterilization Equipment (Autoclaves) | Medical Sterilization Equipment (e.g., Steris, Getinge) |
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