Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists help the people who have heart and lung problems. They encourage and guide the patients to improve their health and prevent future heart problems. Their responsibilities include overseeing the rehabilitation of the patients, addressing the risk factors, educating on healthy living, counseling to reduce stress and helping them to get back an active life.
Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists work with patients who suffer from asthma, angina, emphysema, coronary artery disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart attack and other heart and lung related problems.
Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists possess a wide range of knowledge in medical science, information technology, communication and interpersonal skills and a great ability to convince the patients. These professionals are employed in Hospitals, Physiotherapy clinics, Rehabilitation centers, Home health care services so on and so forth.
Education Requirements:
To become a Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist, students have to complete a Degree program in Rehabilitative science, such as an Associate of Applied Science in Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Science or Physical Therapy. The aspiring candidates can also study a four-year Bachelor’s Degree program or earn a Post-baccalaureate Degree.
The core courses in the Degree program include an Introduction to rehabilitative sciences, Physical science, Principles of rehabilitation science and Human anatomy.
Internship: After completing the required academic course, the aspirants for Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists, however, need to get internship training under senior professionals. They can obtain experience and knowledge in working with patients in medical facilities, which will help them to become professionals.
Licensure: Most of the states in the USA require the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialists to be licensed. Hence, the aspirants need to pass a written licensing examination such as the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam.
Salary & Job Outlook: Job outlook for the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Specialist remains excellent across the USA. It is also expected that employment opportunities in this field would increase more in the future. The annual average salary for these professionals was $81,110 in May 2012.