U.S Air force Pharmacist

[provigil]

How is to be a pharmacist with U.S Air force. I have heard they have decent benefits including loan repayment programs etc.

I would appreciate the feedback.

Thanks

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[Caverject]

I've heard many great things about Air Force Pharmacy as well as pharmacy in all branches of the uniformed services. Most Air Force bases are located near desirable places/cities. Navy by far probably has the best real estate though with the Army being the worst. Best thing for you to do is to get a rotation with one of the armed services so you can judge for yourself if it's for you or not.

 

[patmcd]

Are rotations with the military school specific, or do they offer them to any pharmacy student?

 

[lazydazy]

i heard they pay off a significant amount of your student loans. however, isn't the salary pretty low? anyone know of the specifics? i doubt i would do it as you don't know where you'll be based and if you have to move around. just curious...

 

[Me+PharmD]

I'm actually in the Air Force as a Staff Sergeant E-5, but I spent all of my volunteer time preparing for pharmacy school at our bases pharmacy. Basically, you would have to go through Officer Training School, but only for a short amount of time because medical officers aren't required to have as much leadership training as other officers in the AF. After that you would receive commissioning as a Captain O-3, and for 2007 their base pay is $3292.20/month. In addition, you would receive BAH (housing allowance) based upon your location but would probably not less than $800.00/month tax-free. Also, you would receive BAS (food allowance) of roughly $200.00/month tax-free. Also, because pharmacists get paid so much on the outside, the AF offers sign-on bonuses of $30,000 to include yearly bonus in order to compete with the outside demand. In order to make the next pay-grade of Major O-4, you would have to receive satisfactorily results on your promotion test, which you would not be eligible for until serving a few years as a Captain. Basically, there's a lot of money to be made in the AF but it takes some time and the right location. If I were to go back in I would be entering as an O-3E with 6 years of prior service and my pay would be sitting at $4602.00, as you can see prior service pays off. I hope this helps, I have more information but I don't want to overwhelm everyone. Contact me if you have questions and I'll help you as much as possible.

 

[provigil]

Thank you for your detailed feedback. I will let you know if I need more information. I am exploring my options right now.

 

[pharmboy30]

I talked to an Air Force Pharmacist at the base in Nebraska.
He jokingly called in the "chair force" and sounded very bored.
He didn't say much, but if he didn't already have 10 yrs under his belt in the Guard, he would NEVER have gone in the AF, he was just going to bide his time until he could retire. He said there is not much autonomy.

I talked to a recruiter and never got a straight answer from him. He originally said it was $100,000 loan repayment, $30K sign on, and captain salary (=+housing and food) for 4 years, and I would get to pick my base to be stationed at.
Another classmate was told 6-8 years and different numbers, and they could send you ANYWHERE they wanted to.

I think it might be a good thing for those who are single and like to go different places. I think if you average out the numbers, it is comparable to civilian salaries (for 4 years).

ex: 4200 x 12=50,400 salary x 4=201,600
+100,000 loan repayment
+30,000 sign on (not including other bonuses)=
approximate equivalent $83k yr.

Obviously I have no idea what other benefits you get in military, so just an estimation i created a couple years ago when I was looking into it.

my first year take home after taxes/insurance/401k,etc as civilian in hospital pharmacyapprox $75k
minus student loans approx 12k+ per year.

hard call, depends if you are "military type" - that's what everyone said to me haha.