Maria Lopez

Respiratory Care

After spending five years not knowing what she wanted to do for a career, Maria Lopez is now on course to become a respiratory therapist.

Lopez became interested in Delaware Tech’s respiratory care program after working as an anesthesia technician and patient care technician and shadowing respiratory therapists.

“I liked how a respiratory therapist has a narrow focus on pulmonary and cardiac systems,” Lopez said. “I’ve also had chronic asthma, so I know what it’s like to deal with a disease.”

In order to be successful in a highly detailed and demanding program, Lopez decided to quit her full-time job so she could put all of her focus into being a student. She said she was surprised by the amount of information she needs to retain, especially all of the pharmacology knowledge. While most might assume a respiratory therapist only needs to know about inhalers, there’s a wide spectrum of steroids and other critical care medications that are prescribed.

“Everything we are learning is all stuff we have to be able to retain, implement, and use in the real world,” Lopez said. “And the instructors have been helpful with different methods of learning and methods to help retain the information.

“This is a program where implementing the things you learn in class during clinicals will help everything click for you,” she said.

Lopez credited her support system of her fiancé and family, as well as spending countless hours studying with her classmates, with helping her get through the program.

After graduation, Lopez plans to move to Texas to be closer to family and begin her career as a respiratory therapist. Her ultimate goal is to become a pulmonologist.