Louisville RTs to Host South African Physiotherapy Professor
For Immediate Release
IRVING, TX (November 10, 2004) – Respiratory therapists at Kosair Children's Hospital will play host to South African physiotherapy professor Lina Puckree, PhD, for a week this fall through an International Fellowship Program sponsored by the American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) and American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF).
The 15-year-old program brings health care professionals from abroad to the United States every year to tour hospitals and other facilities in two host cities and then attend the AARC's International Respiratory Congress, scheduled this year for New Orleans, LA, December 4-7.
“The ability this program gives us to exchange information with our colleagues from abroad has brought a wealth of knowledge to respiratory therapists, physicians, nurses, and other health care practitioners involved in caring for people with respiratory conditions,” says ARCF Chair Michael Amato. “Over the years we've hosted more 100 health care providers from nearly 50 countries. Many of them have returned to their native lands and instituted respiratory therapy training programs of their own, bringing U.S.-style health care to people in their countries.”
Dr. Puckree, who teaches at University of Kwa Zulu Natal, Westville Campus, in Durban, South Africa, will be touring the respiratory care department at Kosair Children's and several other local facilities, where she'll see state-of-the-art technology, learn more about the American system of delivering respiratory therapy services, and see how respiratory therapists are educated and trained in the U.S.
Respiratory Therapists (RTs) are specially trained and licensed respiratory health care professionals assisting physicians in diagnosis, treatment and management of respiratory diseases. RTs provide care in hospitals, outpatient centers, physicians' offices, skilled nursing facilities, and patients' homes.
The American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) is a not-for-profit, professional organization, consisting of 35,000 respiratory therapists, physicians, and other health care professionals. AARC is dedicated to assisting persons with respiratory diseases receive safe and effective respiratory care.
The American Respiratory Care Foundation is dedicated to furthering the art, science, quality, and technology of respiratory care. It is a not-for-profit organization involved in supporting research, education, and charitable purposes. Specific activities of the Foundation include funding of clinical and economic research, scholarships, education activities, literary award sand scholarly publications.
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Contact:
Beth Binkley, Communications Coordinator
binkley@aarc.org
American Association for Respiratory Care
9425 N. MacArthur Blvd., Suite 100, Irving, TX 75063
927-406-4657, 927-243-2272
