Military Pharmacy Residencies

[Ramj]

I am an incoming P2 student and I have been exploring different career paths that I can take. I'm very familiar with almost every pharmacy job setting a pharmacist can do but what I am curious about is a pharmacist in the military. I know there are residency programs in the military for all branches and that they do not participate in the ASHP Match but I want more information as to how to apply, whether a fresh pharmacy graduate can apply or if a person has to work in the military as a pharmacist for a few years and then apply. Also how competitive is this program? Is GPA or resume a very critical part of this application process?

Separate question:
As a military pharmacist, people here answer that "you are an officer first and a pharmacist second" does this mean that at some duty stations, pharmacists do not even do their job as a pharmacist?

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[Corytrade]

Yes you have to already be in the military. Being an officer first means you have lots of admin tasks to do, as well as managing all the enlisted troops. You will not be doing any other job besides pharmacy though. Do not join the military unless you want to really be IN the military.

 

[BC_89]

I am an incoming P2 student and I have been exploring different career paths that I can take. I'm very familiar with almost every pharmacy job setting a pharmacist can do but what I am curious about is a pharmacist in the military. I know there are residency programs in the military for all branches and that they do not participate in the ASHP Match but I want more information as to how to apply, whether a fresh pharmacy graduate can apply or if a person has to work in the military as a pharmacist for a few years and then apply. Also how competitive is this program? Is GPA or resume a very critical part of this application process?

Separate question:
As a military pharmacist, people here answer that "you are an officer first and a pharmacist second" does this mean that at some duty stations, pharmacists do not even do their job as a pharmacist?

You need to first be in the military. Upon graduating, you need to have your licensure “in-hand” before submitting a packet. Packets take awhile to complete and typically are due by Oct 1st every year for review. Short-hand answer is if you interview and do well, by 1 year out of graduating your offered a commission. At that point you would request a 30k signing bonus at first duty station or student loan forgiveness (120k) with an obligated 3 yr contract. Should you be picked up for residency it comes with more years of service. Look at military paychart 2018 through google and see what your pay is for a first year O3 captain. Outside of housing allowance and small food stipend that is your salary.

Officer first pharmacist second:

You will be immuned from SOME “normal” military tactical-readiness culture due to being in the healthcare corps but you’ll still have to adapt nonetheless. Check out 2020 physical fitness test changes everybody is mandated to do for army (as an example). You can’t pass, you’ll be out and must pay-back any bonuses you accept such as loan forgiveness.

Do not think for your whole military career your “just” a pharmacist. You’ll be a vital role in admin work and certain bases you’ll run multiple clinics 60+ hour weeks plus physical training if you cannot stay fit. Some branches mandate deploy-readiness tests. Army for example, you must qualify on shooting an M-16 or M-9. If you cannot once again your “out.” Be good with PowerPoints because you’ll be in charge of creating and updating standard-operational-procedures (SOP’s) for specific pharmacies and your employees. If your tasked to set the bar for your unit you could end up with an airborne unit, compete for air assault/ ruck marches , etc etc. ( how can you lead if you can’t stay fit).

Also, military metrics and age gap. Your given a role your first year out many civilian pharmacists don’t perform without plenty of experience. A young 24 year old will have to maintain authority over a pharmacist who’s been working 24+ years. Great leadership experience but very stressful. If someone is overdue for mandated training, it’s your responsibility to make sure they complete it. If it’s military members, prepare to stay late (no such thing as an 8 hour day) until your task is finished (even if it was put out 45 min before closing).

Just because you get a residency in military does not mean you’ll use it. They need diversification in case you move half-way across the country or deploy. This was my goal but unfortunately I’m being looked at for a medical discharge and now will be applying to pharm school (albeit paid for) with no chance of commission. I LOVE it though it can be stressful (especially enlisted like myself) but as stated above:

Do it for the service or it’ll be a rough transition.

 

[dereku]

Agree with BC_89's comments. I'd also add that the idea of "pharmacists do not even do their job as a pharmacist" will vary by service and time in service. During your CGO (company grade officer) years, you are expected to do almost nothing but pharmacy. There are rare opportunities for company command (Army) or group executive officer (Air Force). But 99% of Army and AF junior pharmacy officers are working in outpatient, inpatient or clinical settings. As you move into FGO years (Major and above), the distance between you and the individual patient grows. In my opinion, this is more exaggerated in the Air Force, because the AF values accolades outside of your primary duty. So you might find yourself in a position that is research-based or in a medical logistics role (my current job). But in every branch, you'll notice that, as you become more advanced in rank, your time on the line decreases and you are in the office/cubicle with administrative work more likely than not.

 

[ValeRx]

Pharmacy rank is extremely limited in terms of upward mobility in the Army from what I always saw. I had friends that were in 15+ years and were barely making Major. The highest ranking pharmacist in the Army, the advisor to the Surgeon General, was a full bird Colonel. Medical Corps Army officers (MD/DO) can command but as MS Corps (PharmD) I do not believe a pharmacist is eligible for command. I may be wrong there.

 

[dereku]

ValeRx -- there are 67Es in Command billets. The Commander at Fort Huachuca's MTF, for example, is a pharmacist friend of mine. There has never been a pharmacist in any military service that ranked above O-6 (Colonel or Navy Captain) since the Revolutionary War. I would say that promotions for pharmacists are on par with any others outside of Dental and Medical Corps officers. The "special-ness" of Dentists and Physicians in the military is that there is no DOPMA quota on how many O-6s can be on active duty. Their promotions are based on "fully qualified" criteria (e.g. 'do you have license') while everyone else is "best qualified." If you look at the bio for any high-ranking physician, you will notice that their dates of rank are EXACTLY six years apart... to the day. However, there are Congressionally-mandated quotas on how many pharmacists, nurses, dieticians, etc, can serve in each rank. So our numbers to promotion are slightly lower because we compete against each other, within our respective corps. Promotion to Major is about 85%, to Lt Col about 50% and Colonel is about 25%. Very rough numbers and they vary year-to-year (and with world events [war-time needs])