How to Refresh Expired Anatomy & Physiology (A&P) for RT School- you are ready to apply to a respiratory therapy program, and then you read the fine print: your anatomy and physiology credit is too old to count. For prospective respiratory therapy students, an expired A&P is one of the most common roadblocks — and it almost always surfaces on a deadline. The good news is that it is also one of the most fixable. This guide explains why anatomy and physiology expires for respiratory therapy programs, how to confirm whether yours has, and the fastest reliable way to refresh an expired A&P credit so your application is complete.
If you want the full requirement list first, start with our complete respiratory therapy prerequisites guide. Otherwise, let’s solve the expired-A&P problem directly.
Respiratory therapy programs apply a recency requirement to science prerequisites because foundational knowledge fades and clinical science evolves. The typical window for anatomy and physiology — and for microbiology — is five to seven years, with competitive and accelerated programs often holding to a strict five years. General-education courses such as English, math, and psychology usually last far longer, so A&P is frequently the only prerequisite standing between an otherwise-qualified applicant and a complete file.
Two trends make this stricter than it used to be. First, respiratory therapy programs increasingly calculate a separate science GPA, so they want the science recent and strong. Second, registrars are more often verifying that the A&P lab used physical specimens rather than digital simulations. Both are worth confirming before you enroll anywhere to retake.
A quick three-point check tells you where you stand:
If your completion date falls outside any target program’s window — or you are close enough that it will expire before you enroll — plan to retake. When in doubt, email the program directly; recency rules are rarely flexible, but a quick confirmation can save you months.
Here is the distinction that trips people up: a free review video or a non-credit “refresher” does not reset the date on your transcript. Respiratory therapy programs accept a dated, graded, transferable course — not self-study. So for almost everyone, the real way to refresh an expired anatomy and physiology credit is to retake A&P I and II for fresh, transcripted credit.
| Non-credit “refresher” | Retaking A&P for credit |
|---|---|
| Does not appear on an official transcript | Produces a new, dated transcript entry |
| No grade for a science-GPA calculation | Earns a letter grade programs can count |
| Usually not accepted toward prerequisites | Transfers into CoARC programs when regionally accredited |
| Fine for review only | Resets recency and satisfies admissions |
Recency rules vary, and knowing the pattern helps you plan. Science prerequisites — anatomy and physiology above all, plus microbiology and chemistry — carry the tightest windows, commonly five to seven years, with accelerated programs often enforcing a strict five. General-education courses age much more slowly; many programs accept them for seven to ten years or treat them as effectively permanent. That asymmetry is why A&P is so often the single course standing between an applicant and admission.
Windows are measured to a specific point — usually the application date or the program start date — so a course that is valid the day you apply can lapse before you enroll. If you are near the edge, count the months carefully and, when in doubt, retake rather than gamble on an exception. And if more than one science has aged out, refresh them together: retaking A&P I and II alongside microbiology or chemistry in a single self-paced stretch resets your whole science file at once and rebuilds a recent, strong science GPA in the process.
The slowest part of retaking anatomy and physiology is usually waiting for a fixed semester section to open. Self-paced, online, accredited A&P removes that bottleneck — you can start today and finish on your own timeline, often well before an application deadline, with the lab component respiratory therapy programs expect. The two courses to retake are Anatomy & Physiology I (BIO 270) and Anatomy & Physiology II (BIO 275).
Take both as a sequence so they come from the same provider — some programs require A&P I and II from a single institution. If microbiology (BIO 210) or general chemistry (CHEM 151) has aged out alongside your A&P, refresh those at the same time.
Before you enroll anywhere, confirm the course clears every filter a respiratory therapy program applies:
Confirm before you enroll. Transfer and acceptance decisions rest with your respiratory therapy program. Ask the registrar whether a regionally accredited online A&P with a lab will satisfy the requirement, and keep the syllabus on file in case they request a course-by-course match.
Yes. Most respiratory therapy programs require anatomy and physiology to be completed within about five to seven years of application, and some competitive programs enforce a strict five-year window.
Rarely. Recency rules are usually firm. Email the program to confirm, but be ready to retake A&P for fresh credit.
If the course is outside the recency window, yes — the grade does not override the date. The upside is that a strong retake also refreshes your science GPA.
Sometimes, but many respiratory therapy programs want the full sequence current and from one provider. Confirm with the program before splitting them.
It depends on your pace, but a self-paced online course has no semester start date, so you can begin immediately and often finish well ahead of a fixed-term schedule. Leave time for the official transcript to be sent.
Keep planning with these PrereqCourses guides: the complete respiratory therapy prerequisites guide, the respiratory therapy prerequisite checklist, and mapping RT prerequisites for career changers.
Authoritative outside resources: the BLS Occupational Outlook for respiratory therapists, the CoARC accredited-program directory, and the National Board for Respiratory Care.
