Ms. Farley is a freelance medical writer based in Wakefield, RI.
Serving in the armed forces is a daunting endeavor, especially in the current world climate. Recruiting is on the decline, and therefore, staffing all the necessary positions to support all 4 services has become a challenge. The misconception is that anyone who joins the military will be expected to become warriors and fight. The reality is that the armed services has offered and continues to offer tremendous opportunities to men and women interested in a variety of professions, including pharmacy. Bases all over the world have clinics and pharmacies that require highly trained pharmacists to use their clinical knowledge to improve the health care of servicemen.
Military service has always been a part of life for LT Justin Eubanks, PharmD, MSC, USN, who grew up in a Navy family. After joining the Coast Guard reserves, he accepted a Navy scholarship to attend pharmacy school and found the military atmosphere to be a natural fit. After graduating from the University of Georgia with his PharmD, Lt Eubanks went to work at the Newport Naval Station in Newport, RI, at the base’s ambulatory health care center, where he has been for the last year and a half.
Commanding Presence
At the clinic, Lt Eubanks’ biggest responsibility is pharmacy management. In addition to military personnel, the base clinic employs civilian pharmacists who do most of the dispensing. While he is able to spend time on the “front line” at the window, he manages a staff of well-trained, highly competent, military pharmacy technicians. Patients at the clinic are active military personnel and their dependents, as well as retirees. Most of his patient population tends to be younger, but with the retirees, the pharmacy sees its share of diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Military pharmacies are adopting some of the same initiatives as civilian pharmacies, such as wellness clinics and preventive care. “The Navy is encouraging those kinds of things— keeping costs for health care down by giving sound advice and medication therapy management and preventing wasteful, improper use of medication.”
Besides working at the clinic, Lt Eubanks serves on a Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee, as well as performing collateral duties within his command that are not related to pharmacy. For example, he and his staff take part in regular physical training, or “PT,” a requirement of the command. “These things distinguish me from my counterparts. I am an officer first,” says Lt Eubanks.
Join the Navy, See the World
The Navy scholarship requires Lt Eubanks to serve 3 years of active duty, which will be spent in Newport as part of a 3- to 4-year rotation. Beyond that, the travel opportunities afforded to him at his job are far and wide. Pharmacists may accommodate requests from other sites requiring temporary help. They also are allotted time for continuing education conferences and participation in recruiting activities.
When recruiting, Lt Eubanks relates the day-to-day aspects of military pharmacy and what it means to be a pharmacist in the military, including the considerable responsibility. “People are scared,” says Lt Eubanks. “They hear ‘military’ and are bombarded with negative aspects.” One thing Lt Eubanks wants to make clear is, “if the Navy hires you [to be a pharmacist], your primary job is to be a pharmacist—not a nurse, not a gate guard, not carrying a weapon. They have hired specialists for those reasons. I am working in my field, just doing slightly different things. One of my biggest things is to reassure [pharmacy students] that once the Navy invests the time, effort, and money to get you hired, they will want you to use your skill set, your specialty.”
Expanding Horizons
One advantage to a career in military pharmacy is the growth potential. Residency programs are available through the Navy, where there is a genuine interest in seeing their people advance and better themselves. A military pharmacist can:
• pursue a PhD
• study pharmacoeconomics or telepharmacy
• get a master’s of business administration or an information technology degree
• become advanced cardiac life support-certified
• attend field medicine school
According to Lt Eubanks, there are boundless opportunities to improve and change the course of your career. “It is up to you. I am young, brand new. All the time, I am seeing opportunities for advanced training, degrees, opportunities that you might not get on the outside. There is unlimited growth potential. It is what you make of it.”
