Air Force Reserve

[uhboutamy]

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Does anyone know what its like as a Pharmacy Specialist in the Air Force Reserve? Im currently taking pre-requisites for Pharmacy School but I want to be a tech while I go to school to become a Pharmacist.

 

[tm79602]

Does anyone know what its like as a Pharmacy Specialist in the Air Force Reserve? Im currently taking pre-requisites for Pharmacy School but I want to be a tech while I go to school to become a Pharmacist.

It is not called a "Pharmacy Specialist". You are considered a pharmacy technician and working at a military pharmacy. You do the same things that you would do in a civilian pharmacy...the only difference is that military pharmacy technicians are allowed to do a little more than civilian technicians can do (I served for 7 years in active duty Air Force and 1 year as a reservist).

I would really look into why you want to become a reservist. Is it so the military can pay for school? Are you trying to apply for a military scholarship, and in return you owe the military back almost double the time? I really caution people who want to join the military, especially for the wrong reasons. You will be in for a rude awakening if you join for money reasons. You a military airman first, then you are a pharmacy technician second. That means that the mission of the military becomes way more important than your pharmacy job. So, if the military needs pharmacy technician reservists to deploy, then you would have to put pharmacy school on hold to deploy.

Like mentioned above, please do your homework before deciding to commit 4-6 years of your live to the military. The military has done so much for me, including paying for my bachelors. The state of Illinois will pay for my entire pharmacy school because I am a veteran who joined the military while being a resident of the state. I joined because I wanted to serve my country, not for the benefits. I am grateful for the military and my experience, but I have witnessed A LOT of people gripe about the military that have actually served. There are pros and cons to everything, but please know what you are getting into.

 

[uhboutamy]

I want to join for experience more than anything. I think it would make Pharmacy school much easier. The reason why I said Pharmacy Specialist is because thats what a Pharmacy tech is called in the Air Force. Or so thats what my recruiter told me. Im only 21 years old. I have like 1 year and a half left to finish pre-requisites for Pharmacy school. But like I said, the only reason I have been considering the military is because Im looking for experience. I dont understand why so many people say horrible things about the military and others say wonderful things.

 

[tm79602]

I want to join for experience more than anything. I think it would make Pharmacy school much easier. The reason why I said Pharmacy Specialist is because thats what a Pharmacy tech is called in the Air Force. Or so thats what my recruiter told me. Im only 21 years old. I have like 1 year and a half left to finish pre-requisites for Pharmacy school. But like I said, the only reason I have been considering the military is because Im looking for experience. I dont understand why so many people say horrible things about the military and others say wonderful things.

People that say horrible things about the military are mainly the ones that have experienced the military. The recruiter can call it what he/she wants, but you are called a military pharmacy technician. The recruiter will tell people anything to fill their quotas for the air force. You know that you have to go through basic training down at Lackland AFB (which is no cake walk) and then tech school. I joined in 2003 and left the military for good in 2010. I am not sure that you are going to get the experience as a reservist, because you are only devoting one weekend a month to the military verses every day as active duty. If you are looking for experience, work at a civilian pharmacy and stay a civilian. Unless you are going active duty and are willing to put pharmacy school on hold for 4-6 years, I would stay civilian. Yes, you will be able to attend tech school in which you learn about everything there is to know about pharmacy, but you will only apply these skills one weekend a month. Your prerequisites will have to be on hold for a while (basic training runs about 6 weeks; 1st phase of tech school runs about 3-4 months; 2nd phase of tech school at another location runs about 1-2 months). If you want experience, work at a civilian pharmacy...not as a military reservist. It will not make pharmacy school much easier. Yes, you will be able to know about the medications and will be able to impress people in the interview with being in the military, but I was not able to apply my knowledge learned in the military through pharmacy school.

 

[tm79602]

I am really not trying to scare you, but I have over 7 years of experience and I know the ins and outs of the Air Force. I left the military as a Staff Sergeant and was able to earn the rank within 4-5 years of being in the military (which is really fast). I supervised airman that were lower rank than I was. I am all for people that want to join the military, but I do place caution. If you want the experience, go active duty and devote 4-6 years to the military. If you are not willing to do that, do not go reserves. You will not gain experience. The only reason why I went reserves is because I was preparing to go into pharmacy school and I still have time left on my active duty commitment. I was accepted into a pharmacy program back in 2010. Once I got accepted, I left the reserves for good. I did not want to risk having to deploy overseas interrupting my pharmacy studies.