Restrepo, Ruben Dario

School of Health Professions
Respiratory Care
(210) 567-7964
restrepor@uthscsa.edu

As a foreign physician from Colombia, little did I know that almost twenty years after my arrival in the US I would consider Teaching and Respiratory Care the pillars of my professional career and advancement. I am a very passionate educator for I strongly believe I am graduating outstanding professionals who offer the best care to patients. I am a strong supporter of teaching students the benefits of multidisciplinary interactions and team work in simulated and real clincial scenarios to improve patients outcomes. I have been able to instill in the students the importance of application and critical thinking versus mere memorization. I believe my students have rewarded me over this decade of teaching with excellent evaluations because they do appreciate my philosophy of teaching. There has not been a better testament to my personal achievement as a mentor than to witness so many of my mentees leading the profession inside and outside the country. Globalization of Respiratory Care has been my motto from the time I started teaching because our profession is still young and not widely recognized. By accepting invitations to speak at both medical and respiratory conferences around the globe, I have served the profession of Respiratory Care and proudly represented my institution. This effort has resulted in signing one of the few international clinical affiliations in the School and creating strong academic ties with other countries. Having served as chair of the International Relations Committee provided me an excellent opportunity to expand my role as an ambassador for the university. I proudly represent Colombia as a Governor before the International Council for Respiratory Care and have exposed our scientific journal to the Spanish-speaking medical community by creating the first bilingual podcast of a medical journal. In addition, I sincerely believe that my career would have been incomplete without research. I have been privileged with opportunities to contribute to different areas of this important mission by seeking funding, conducting my own projects, presenting my findings, and by publishing my work. This process has facilitated my role as a reviewer for prestigious international journals. It is however the bestowment of the credential as a Fellow of the American Association of Respiratory Care (FAARC) that has placed me among the handful of giants in the profession who I have always admired and who have served as my mentors throughout my career. As I have mentored my undergraduate and graduate students, I look forward to seeing them display the FAARC credential after their names in the future. I am strongly convinced that I have achieved excellence in service and teaching because I have closely followed the example set by those giants in the profession of Respiratory Care and Education. It is my passion to continue serving the Respiratory Care profession and the Health Science Center by providing exemplary teaching and scholarly work.