The sky is the limit when it comes to a career as a respiratory therapist, keynote speaker tells students during white coat ceremony
The Respiratory Care Class of 2027 received powerful advice along with their white coats in a Feb. 6 ceremony that symbolized their transition from classroom learning to clinical rotations.
Marian Wiegand, MSRC, RRT, RRT-NPS, a 2018 graduate of the Master of Science in Respiratory Care program at UT San Antonio School of Health Professions, shared her own journey to discovering the respiratory care profession.
“I am proud to say I have one of the best jobs,” she said, explaining that she works as a flight respiratory therapist for a children’s hospital.
Born and raised in Ghana, Wiegand moved to the United States as a child after the death of her mother. Initially, she aspired to be a medical doctor, but in college she realized she wanted a career with work-life balance.
“As I researched allied health professions, I discovered respiratory care, a field that I had never even heard of,” she said. “What drew me in was the depth of knowledge and the direct impact on something so meaningful and essential — breathing and quality of life.”
Wiegand assured students that the magic happens when they begin to apply what they have learned in the classroom with patients. She encouraged them to take care of themselves by building and protecting their support systems, to listen to their faculty, to learn from the respiratory therapists they encounter during clinical rotations and to work hard.
“Every clinical day is a job interview,” Wiegand said. “People remember how you show up long after they forget your grades.”
She recalled how she overcame her fear of flying when asked to join the transport team.
“I was afraid — afraid of heights and therefore afraid of flying. Afraid I simply wasn’t ready,” she said, explaining that her support system encouraged her to try.
“So, I said ‘yes.’ And the beginning was rough. I closed my eyes during takeoff, gripped my seat through turbulence and got sick more times than I can count. Saying ‘yes’ to that challenge changed me. It stretched me. It strengthened me and it enabled me to fully show up for my patients.”
Wiegand described herself as a “wife, a mother, a sister, a daughter, a friend and so much in between.”
The importance of family support was referenced regularly by school and program leadership during the white coat ceremony.
School of Health Professions Dean David Shelledy, PhD, RRT, FAARC ,FASAHP, and Department of Respiratory Care Interim Chair Megan Carreon, MHA, RRT, called out the critical role the students’ family and friends have played in helping them achieve their educational goals.
“Our students depend on you and your continuing support and we all thank you for making their success possible,” Shelledy said.
To underscore the importance of that support, family and other loved ones joined their students on the stage of the Holly Auditorium to personally coat them. Ceremony attendees learned not only about the meaning of the white coat ceremony — a symbolic transition from the classroom to clinical education and a pledge to uphold high standards of ethics and patient care — but also about the profession itself.
“Respiratory therapy is a healthcare discipline that specializes in evaluating and monitoring breathing and lung problems,” Shelledy said. “Respiratory therapists have advanced knowledge of high-tech equipment such as mechanical ventilators and often initiate life support for those who need it.”
Respiratory therapists see patients of all ages and work in acute-care hospitals, in-patient rehabilitation facilities, sub-acute facilities, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, long-term care facilities and in colleges, universities and research facilities, he added.
The 60 members of the Respiratory Care Class of 2027 include master’s and bachelor’s students. The ceremony also included the induction of 12 members of the Respiratory Care Class of 2026 into Lambda Beta, the national honor society for respiratory care.