Question About Switching Jobs in the Military

[sean.chih]

I am trying to become a pharmacy officer in the near future, but I need to first get into pharmacy school. It is fairly competitive and I was looking for a back up in case things don't go my way. If I fail to attend pharmacy school by the time I graduate (1 year from now) I don't want to continue wasting my time in school as a graduate student. I want to apply to the military with my Bachelor's Degree and start working in the army. However, I do not want to give up my goal as a pharmacy officer and want to apply again while serving, I was just wondering if that is possible.

For example, if I decided to serve as an infantry officer and applied during my train/service to pharmacy and get accepted, is it possible to switch out of infantry officer and pursue pharmacy officer instead?

Thanks

 

[sean.chih]

thanks

 

[Occam]

mariomike, that thread leans heavily towards the NCM side.  The OP will have a degree when joining, and they have completely different rules (which I'm not familiar with) for occupation transfer once one is commissioned DEO.  While the advice is very sound that OTs are never a sure thing, there's a fair bit of difference in the officer world from what I've heard.  I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can offer advice on the VOT as an officer.

 

[mariomike]

mariomike, that thread leans heavily towards the NCM side.  The OP will have a degree when joining, and they have completely different rules (which I'm not familiar with) for occupation transfer once one is commissioned DEO.  While the advice is very sound that OTs are never a sure thing, there's a fair bit of difference in the officer world from what I've heard.  I'm sure someone will be along shortly who can offer advice on the VOT as an officer.

Point taken, Occam. I removed the post.

 

[Blackadder1916]

I am trying to become a pharmacy officer in the near future, but I need to first get into pharmacy school. It is fairly competitive and I was looking for a back up in case things don't go my way. If I fail to attend pharmacy school by the time I graduate (1 year from now) I don't want to continue wasting my time in school as a graduate student. I want to apply to the military with my Bachelor's Degree and start working in the army. However, I do not want to give up my goal as a pharmacy officer and want to apply again while serving, I was just wondering if that is possible.

For example, if I decided to serve as an infantry officer and applied during my train/service to pharmacy and get accepted, is it possible to switch out of infantry officer and pursue pharmacy officer instead?

The issue you raise is not so easy as simply switching occupations once (if) you eventually get accepted into a pharmacy programme.  Since you indicate that your (ultimate?) goal is to become a Pharmacy Officer, I assume your plan was to apply to the CF to subsidize your education (e.g. ROTP) while you would be in pharmacy school.  While it appears that ROTP is an available entry plan for Pharm O, the recruiting site still lists a BPharm as the only degree that is applicable for ROTP.  If the pharmacy programme that you intend applying to has transitioned to an entry to practise PharmD, it would be wise to clarify whether the CF has made changes (or is planning to make changes) to its educational subsidy plan for pharmacists.  ROTP only applies to bachelor degrees and would not cover a doctorate, even if it was the first level professional degree.  There was a similar situation when physiotherapists changed the requirement to practise to a masters.  If you have to invoke your "back up plan" (I find it odd someone referring to infantry as their fall-back position - while it may be easier to get selected for infantry than pharm school, infantry is not something (IMO) that one does while waiting for something else to come along), it is not simply a matter of raising your hand once you eventually get a spot in a school.  While there are various in-service educational subsidy plans, these are all competitive, are limited in number and are not necessarily available every year.  I don't know if there is a specific "Military Pharmacy Training Plan" in the same vein as MMTP (that's the CF's programme for subsidizing serving officers to go to medical school), but I faintly recollect hearing something about introducing a limited plan to fund serving members to go to pharmacy school.  I've known a few military pharmacists over the years who were already in the military when they were selected and funded to get a BPharm, however they were all NCMs who were commissioned under UTPM, but that was years ago when the earth was still cooling.  I don't know specifics about the current state of CF pharmacists.  There will likely be someone along who may have more up to date information about how the medical world  plans to deal with changes in entry to practise for pharmacists.

 

[CombatDoc]

Our Pharmacy Officers have Bachelor's degrees, not Doctorates. We do not subsidize doctorates in Pharmacy. If nobody chimes in before then, next week I'll check to see if we subsidize pharm training through a "component transfer" program similar to MMTP.

 

[DAA]

I am trying to become a pharmacy officer in the near future, but I need to first get into pharmacy school. It is fairly competitive and I was looking for a back up in case things don't go my way. If I fail to attend pharmacy school by the time I graduate (1 year from now) I don't want to continue wasting my time in school as a graduate student. I want to apply to the military with my Bachelor's Degree and start working in the army. However, I do not want to give up my goal as a pharmacy officer and want to apply again while serving, I was just wondering if that is possible.

For example, if I decided to serve as an infantry officer and applied during my train/service to pharmacy and get accepted, is it possible to switch out of infantry officer and pursue pharmacy officer instead?

Thanks

Pharmacy Officer is available only through ROTP or DEO (Direct Entry) entry plans.  The absolute bare "minimum" DEO requirements to join the CF as a Pharmacy Officer are:

Undergraduate Degree in pharmacy
- Pass the pharmaceutical examination Board of Canada certifying exam or equivalent in Québec; and
- hold a patient care license from a Canadian province

If you are already serving in the CF, MPTP may be an available option but only internally and not from off the street as far as I know.

 

[dapaterson]

However, Pharmacy education is being revamped, and within about 5 years PharmD will be the entry to practice level (just like how a BN is required to enter as an RN now).  One hopes the CAF is tracking and will amend entry plans to meet this change.

http://www.pharmacy.utoronto.ca/pharmdforpharmacists/faq

http://www.pharmacists.ca/cpha-ca/assets/File/cpha-on-the-issues/PPDoctorOfPharmacyEN.pdf

 

[Pusser]

There is an MPTP (Military Pharmacy Training Plan) this year (keep in mind that not all education plans are available every year).  CANFORGEN 145/15 refers.  This plan is designed for serving officers to receive a subsidized education (BPharm in this case) and an Occupation Transfer to PharmO.  Of particular note are the eligibility requirements:


4.  THE 2016/17 MPLANS ARE OPEN TO ALL REG F OFFICERS IN ALL MOSIDS. ALL APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING MINIMUM ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:

A.  HAVE COMPLETED A MINIMUM OF THREE YEARS OF A FULL TIME UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM, OR THE EQUIVALENT

B.  MEET THE MINIMUM MEDICAL STANDARD FOR THE TARGET MOSID

C.  NOT NORMALLY BE ABOVE THE SUBSTANTIVE RANK OF CAPT/LT(N) AT THE TIME OF THE CONVENING OF THE MPLANS SELECTION BOARD

D.  HAVE SERVED THREE YEARS IN THE REG F AFTER QUALIFYING IN THE BASIC LEVEL SPECIFICATIONS FOR HIS OR HER CURRENT OFFICER MOSID

E.  BE ABLE TO COMPLETE A TRAINING PROGRAM FROM AN ACCREDITED CANADIAN UNIVERSITY LEADING TO A SUITABLE DEGREE IAW THE MOSID ENTRY LEVEL EDUCATION STANDARD,AND

F.  AS OF 1 SEP 16 NOT BE SERVING ON A PERIOD OF OBLIGATORY SERVICE IN RESPECT OF OTHER MILITARY SPONSORED COURSES

Note the part about having to have completed training and served in another occupation (MOSID) before being eligible for this.  In short, any ideas of entering the CF as an officer in another occupation and then switching to MPTP immediately upon acceptance to pharmacy school may not work if you haven't yet given your pound of flesh in your initial occupation.  Note also that these programs tend to be quite competitive.  On the bright side, the last time I talked to a recruiter about pharmacy, he indicated that the CF has difficulty filling all of its pharmacy positions, so anyone actually accepted to a pharmacy school is pretty much set (provided they meet all the other enrolement criteria).