Cardiopulmonary Anatomy and Physiology

Course Description

RET1485C – Cardiopulmonary Anatomy and Physiology is a first-year course in Florida's Respiratory Care A.S. curriculum, typically 3 credits with an integrated laboratory. It is the scientific foundation the entire respiratory care program rests on.

Everything a respiratory therapist does — interpreting a blood gas, selecting a ventilator mode, recognizing why a patient is deteriorating — is applied cardiopulmonary physiology. A student who understands ventilation-perfusion relationships can reason about a hypoxemic patient; a student who memorized normal values cannot.

Content covers the anatomy of the respiratory system from upper airway through the alveolar-capillary membrane, the thorax and respiratory muscles, and the cardiovascular system including cardiac anatomy, the conduction system, and pulmonary and systemic circulation.

The physiology is where the course does its work: mechanics of ventilation including compliance, resistance, and work of breathing; lung volumes and capacities; gas exchange and diffusion; ventilation-perfusion relationships and the causes of hypoxemia; oxygen transport and the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve; carbon dioxide transport; acid-base balance and blood gas interpretation; the control of ventilation; and cardiovascular physiology including cardiac output, hemodynamics, and the coupling of heart and lung function.

Acid-base and blood gas interpretation deserve particular mention. They are the most immediately applied content in the course, they are heavily represented on the credentialing examinations, and they are where students most often struggle — because the reasoning is systematic rather than memorizable.

The laboratory component typically includes spirometry, pulmonary function measurement, blood gas analysis, and hemodynamic simulation.

Offered at approximately 18 Florida institutions with accredited respiratory care programs, including Broward, College of Central Florida, Daytona State, Eastern Florida State, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Florida SouthWestern, Gulf Coast State, Hillsborough, Indian River State, Lake-Sumter, Pensacola State, Santa Fe, St. Johns River, St. Petersburg, Seminole State, and Valencia.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the anatomy of the respiratory system from upper airway through the alveolar-capillary membrane.
• Describe the anatomy of the thorax and the muscles of ventilation.
• Describe cardiac anatomy, the conduction system, and pulmonary and systemic circulation.
• Explain the mechanics of ventilation, including compliance, resistance, and work of breathing.
• Identify lung volumes and capacities and describe how each is measured.
• Explain gas diffusion across the alveolar-capillary membrane and the factors affecting it.
• Explain ventilation-perfusion relationships and identify the causes of hypoxemia.
• Describe oxygen transport and interpret the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve, including shift factors.
• Describe carbon dioxide transport and its relationship to acid-base status.
• Apply acid-base principles and interpret arterial blood gas values systematically.
• Identify respiratory and metabolic acidosis and alkalosis and describe compensation.
• Explain the neural and chemical control of ventilation.
• Describe cardiac output, hemodynamics, and cardiopulmonary interaction.
• Perform and interpret basic pulmonary function measurements in the laboratory.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe fetal circulation and the transition at birth.
• Describe exercise physiology and the cardiopulmonary response to exertion.
• Describe the effects of altitude and hyperbaric conditions.
• Describe aging effects on cardiopulmonary function.
• Describe renal contribution to acid-base regulation.
• Describe sleep physiology and its cardiopulmonary implications.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Upper and lower airway anatomy — structure, function, and clinical relevance.
• Lungs and alveolar-capillary membrane — structure and the surface for gas exchange.
• Thorax and ventilatory muscles — the diaphragm, accessory muscles, and pleural mechanics.
• Cardiac anatomy and conduction — chambers, valves, coronary circulation, and the conduction system.
• Mechanics of ventilation — pressure gradients, compliance, airway resistance, and work of breathing.
• Lung volumes and capacities — definitions, measurement, and clinical interpretation.
• Diffusion — Fick's law, driving pressures, and diffusion limitation.
• Ventilation-perfusion relationships — V/Q matching, shunt, dead space, and the five causes of hypoxemia.
• Oxygen transport — dissolved and bound oxygen, content, saturation, and the oxyhemoglobin dissociation curve.
• Carbon dioxide transport — forms of transport and the bicarbonate buffer system.
• Acid-base balance — pH regulation, buffer systems, and respiratory and renal compensation.
• Arterial blood gas interpretation — systematic analysis and clinical correlation.
• Control of ventilation — central and peripheral chemoreceptors and the respiratory centers.
• Cardiovascular physiology — cardiac output, preload and afterload, hemodynamics, and cardiopulmonary coupling.

Optional Topics

• Fetal circulation and transition at birth.
• Exercise physiology.
• Altitude and hyperbaric physiology.
• Aging and cardiopulmonary function.
• Renal acid-base regulation.
• Sleep physiology.

Resources & Tools

• Cardiopulmonary Anatomy & Physiology: Essentials of Respiratory Care (Des Jardins), Cengage — the standard text for this course.
• Egan's Fundamentals of Respiratory Care, Elsevier — the general reference across the curriculum.
• Respiratory Physiology: The Essentials (West & Luks), Wolters Kluwer — the classic concise physiology text.
• Clinical Application of Blood Gases (Malley) or comparable ABG interpretation guides.
• Laboratory equipment — spirometers, pulmonary function equipment, blood gas analyzers, and hemodynamic simulators.
• NBRC — content outlines for the TMC and CSE examinations, which weight this material heavily.
• American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC) — clinical practice guidelines.
• Anatomical models and physiology simulation software.

Career Pathways

• Respiratory Therapist (SOC 29-1126) — the target occupation; hospitals, critical care, emergency, and outpatient settings.
• Critical Care and Adult ICU Therapist — where this physiology is applied most directly.
• Neonatal/Pediatric Specialist (NPS) — a post-RRT credential building on this foundation.
• Pulmonary Function Technologist — the laboratory content leads directly here; separate credentialing available.
• Sleep Technologist — a related pathway with its own credential.
• Clinical Educator and Program Faculty — requiring additional education.

Florida employers include AdventHealth, Orlando Health, BayCare, Baptist Health, Tampa General, Lee Health, and Memorial Healthcare, along with the state's children's hospitals and a substantial long-term acute care and home respiratory sector.

Special Information

Credit and title variation

Values and names differ across Florida. Hillsborough College lists RET1485 at 3 credits; Seminole State titles it Cardiopulmonary Physiology and Santa Fe Cardiopulmonary Anatomy and Physiology. The course appears as both RET1485 and RET1485C, the C form indicating an integrated laboratory. Some programs split anatomy and physiology across two courses. Compare contact hours and content coverage rather than credit counts alone when evaluating transfer.

Prerequisites

Admission to the respiratory care program is the universal requirement, and Florida respiratory care programs are limited-access and competitive. Institutions commonly require general anatomy and physiology (BSC2085/BSC2086) with a minimum grade of C as a program prerequisite. Programs typically require immunizations, background check, drug screening, and healthcare provider BLS before clinical placement.

Position in the curriculum — and why it matters more than its credit count suggests

This is a first-year foundation course preceding respiratory therapeutics, mechanical ventilation, and RET2714C Pediatric and Neonatal Respiratory Care. Every one of those courses assumes this material. Students who pass it by memorization rather than understanding tend to struggle in mechanical ventilation, where the same physiology has to be applied to unfamiliar situations under time pressure.

Credentialing and Florida licensure

Graduates of a CoARC-accredited program are eligible for the NBRC examinations leading to the RRT credential. Florida additionally requires state licensure through the Department of Health Board of Respiratory Care to practice — a legal requirement distinct from NBRC credentialing. This course's content is heavily weighted on the NBRC examinations.

Acid-base is where students struggle, and it is learnable

Blood gas interpretation defeats more respiratory care students than any other topic in the first year, usually because they try to memorize patterns rather than learn the systematic method. The productive approach is a fixed sequence — assess pH, then the respiratory component, then the metabolic component, then compensation — applied to many examples until it is automatic. Programs generally provide practice sets for exactly this reason, and working through them is not optional preparation.