Stephen Feltoon, Respiratory Therapy Graduate Class of 2015
Stephen Feltoon grew up in a household of healthcare providers and has ended up in the family industry, by way of a unique path.
“My father is a physician, my mother is a nurse, and I always wanted to go into healthcare but I couldn’t seem to find a career that best fit me personally and academically,” says Stephen. “I initially got a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in psychology and ended up in a job in retail sales.”
After graduating from Miami and working at his first professional job, Stephen still felt a calling to work in healthcare.
“It took me a few years of being out of school to feel like I could return,” says Stephen. “I wanted to discover a field that really sparked my interest and provided the right motivation for me to go back. I eventually discovered respiratory care and Sinclair’s program.”
Respiratory care practitioners are responsible for the prevention, treatment, management and rehabilitation of patients of all ages with deficiencies or abnormalities associated with the pulmonary system. Sinclair College offers a Respiratory Care program designed to be completed in six semesters on a full-time basis.
“Changing paths from sales to respiratory care wasn’t difficult,” says Stephen. “Once I figured out what I wanted to do and how to do that, it was easy.”
Sinclair’s Respiratory Therapy Program is a mixture of classroom and clinical instruction. Sinclair has relationships with regional health systems to allow students to receive exposure to patient care situations through clinical rotations while completing the program.
“I did clinical rotations at Atrium Medical Center, Miami Valley Hospital, Kettering Medical Center, Dayton Heart and Vascular, Kindred Hospital, and Cincinnati Children’s,” says Stephen. “I received diverse experiences caring for patients and also had the chance to become familiar with several potential employers while I was still attending classes.”
Stephen had a positive experience in the classroom as well.
Everything was great at Sinclair. The faculty are very passionate about what they do and they instill their knowledge and passion in their students,” says Stephen. “They really make an effort to ensure that students succeed.
"I just can’t say enough about what a great partner Sinclair has been and our partnership will only get stronger," says Mark. "I feel very confident with a partner like Sinclair that we’re going to be able to meet the needs of our community. As healthcare evolves, we’ll be able to evolve and train our healthcare providers."
Stephen graduated from Sinclair’s respiratory therapy in 2015 and has been working as a respiratory therapist at Fort Hamilton Hospital since then. “I love working in critical care,” says Stephen. “That is where the work of a respiratory therapist can make some of the biggest differences.”
While working, Stephen was inspired to continue to further his career in the medical field and has returned to Sinclair.
“I am currently in my first semester of pre-requisite classes to complete my physician assistant degree,” says Stephen. “I didn’t set out to be a physician assistant but the more I worked the more I wanted to manage the bigger picture of patient care.”
“Since I had such a fantastic experience with Sinclair’s respiratory program it was a no-brainer for me to take as many pre-requisites as possible back at Sinclair,” says Stephen.
Stephen is completing biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and other classes at Sinclair necessary to pursue his physician assistant degree and continue to provide healthcare to people in our region.
“It’s fantastic caring for patients. One of the best feelings in the world is being able to sit down and help really sick people on an everyday basis,” says Stephen. “I know the work that I do changes lives, and that is incredibly rewarding.”
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