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rxboy1996

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Has anyone gone through the Junior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program (JRCOSTEP)? with the US Public Health Service? If you did, how was your experience? Does it make your chances of getting a pharmacy job with the Commissioned Corps easier once you graduate? How long/when did you do your internship and did you get to chose which agency you worked with?

For anyone that is curious, JRCOSTEP participants work in the various operating division that make up the agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (e.g., Food and Drug Administration, Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health) as well as several other Federal agencies (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Prisons, National Park Service). Typical assignments vary from 31 to 120 days during official school breaks.

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I haven't done JRCOSTEP myself and can't speak to most of your questions, but it does definitely make it easier to get a commission with the Corps once you graduate. If you look at the USPHS website, you can't even apply to the Corps as a pharmacist unless you are prior JRCOSTEP (at least for right now, there are windows where pharmacists can apply without being prior JRCOSTEP, but usually limited to a few weeks per year). I would highly encourage you to apply to JRCOSTEP if you are interested in a career with the Corps.
 
I was a SRCOSTEP finalist. Definitely do JRCOSTEP if you are planning to join the USPHS. If you like JRCOSTEP, apply to SRCOSTEP and be commissioned as an Ensign while still in school. (One extra year counted toward pension!) I don't know if you can choose where or what agency you join (most likely Prisons or Indian Health) but the experience in any should be worthwhile.
 
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Yes do it. It took me over two years to get commissioned and now I work for the bop. Would have been nice to know about costeps while in school. Would definitely help in speeding up the process.

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I cosign with above answers. Applications are always open for former JRCOSTEP, only open once a year or once every 2 years for pharmacists w/o JRCOSTEP. From the people I know who did it, it seems like they were able to choose the agency. They called a bunch of (IHS) sites to let them know they were interested and find out about what they would be doing there and whatever site was interested was where they ended up. Idk if that's required or if they were going above and beyond to ensure they got a spot. They worked about 1-2 months during the summer after P2 year


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