SDSU’s BREATHE-SD project to improve respiratory care and public health in South Dakota featured on The Prairie Doc

The BREATHE-SD project was recently featured on a segment of The Prairie Doc, which airs on South Dakota Public Broadcasting. BREATHE-SD is a new grant-funded project to increase the respiratory therapy and public health workforce in South Dakota.

The Prairie Doc is a television and online program that seeks to share information on medical topics in South Dakota without the distractions of marketing and misinformation. According to their mission statement, Prairie Doc is a “non-profit developed for enhancing health and diminishing suffering by communicating useful information, based on honest science, provided in a respectful and compassionate manner.” Their programs air on SDPB and online.

As the BREATHE-SD project begins, the project team was excited to be featured on the Prairie-Doc program. The BREATHE-SD team has already begun its work to support, reinforce and grow the respiratory therapy and public health professions in South Dakota, to meet the growing needs of the state.

The three year project will accomplish a number of things, including but not limited to growing SDSU’s respiratory care program capacity from 24 to 40 students per year, create opportunities for students to complete clinical rotations in a number of South Dakota’s rural communities, as well as in Sioux Falls and Rapid City, establish a half-tuition scholarship for SDSU’s Public Health Certificate program (which is available now), and launch an awareness campaign.

The BREATHE-SD project is possible because of collaboration between SDSU’s faculty and medical leaders across South Dakota. Featured in the segment are Project Director Sharrel Pinto, respiratory care coordinator Lacy Patnoe, and Brooke Sydow, the project’s network coordinator. Pinto is head of the Department of Allied and Population Health at SDSU and Patnoe is the coordinator for SDSU’s respiratory care program, while Sydow is the program manager at Huron Regional Medical Center, which is part of the Northern Plains Health Network, which also includes Madison Regional Health System and Brookings Health System.

Learn more about SDSU’s Respiratory Care program and the new training opportunities possible through BREATHE-SD.

Learn more about the Public Health certificate program, including the new half-tuition scholarship for the Public Health Certificate.

Learn more about the BREATHE-SD project.