I'm Captain Christopher Sherman from Riverview, New Brunswick.
I'm a Pharmacy Officer currently posted at 17 Wing in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Pharmacy Officers are a vital part of the healthcare team in the Canadian Armed Forces.
From providing expert advice on drug therapy in garrison and on deployments,
to managing the distribution of medication and medical equipment,
Pharmacy Officers are employed in a variety of settings.
There's actually many jobs you can occupy as a military pharmacist.
Our military clinics are actually a bit of a mix between civilian pharmacy and hospital pharmacy.
So we still have the traditional dispensaries, as you can see behind me here,
and we actually have a lot of clinical roles as well, so our doctors, our nurses, all of that,
are located right in the same building with us.
So we have case conferences on patients, we do rounds with physicians,
all these things that you get in a hospital as well,
so you're a little more involved in the patient care, which is nice.
There are other roles: we have something called CMED,
which is a central medical equipment depot, in Petawawa,
where they basically act as a medical supply for the entire Canadian Forces
and for deployed operations.
We have other positions at Field Ambulances and Field Hospitals,
sort of acting more in the field environment, supporting the troops directly there.
You're not only the pharmacist, clinically, but you're also often in charge
of the medical supplies and all the medical assets,
so anything from drugs to blood to X-ray machines,
anything like that is sort of your jurisdiction.
So you're a bit of a manager in that sense.
We do also have a disaster assistance response team role,
which is a team that the Canadian Forces puts together
to respond to natural emergencies when they happen around the world.
As well as positions in Ottawa, developing policy, working on drug formulary,
all those types of things.
A career in the military as a pharmacist, it's really an adventure, honestly.
You get the opportunities to go out with the troops on taskings -
you know, play in the field, wear all the gear, carry around the weapons, things like that.
The Army and the military also offers a lot of esprit de corps, you know,
there's a lot of pride when you put on that uniform in the morning.
As well, with the military, I find that the quality of life is really there for you.
On your day-to-day work, to do physical training during work hours -
whether it's go to the gym, I play soccer a couple of days a week -
getting those types of opportunities that just improve your morale
and really make coming to work fun.
I recently got back from Kuwait on a three-week deployment
and it was my first opportunity to do something like that.
Just from getting off the plane, it's all real all of a sudden.
You know, I was nervous going into it,
but to be able to go there and actually do your job -
you're supporting a lot of people over there that are really making a difference in that area.
Well, the first couple of years of your career,
generally, we spend about a year doing our initial training -
so things like a 6-month hospital residency and some military courses
specific to pharmacy and healthcare within the military.
Generally we're posted to a larger clinic,
so you have someone to kind of help you learn the job, things like that;
spend a couple of years on the clinic, just doing what we learned in school,
getting a little bit of the military pace, and then eventually getting the opportunity
to branch out and get some experience in some of those other positions
that are a little more unique to military service.
Pharmacy Officers also work in other environments including instruction and teaching,
as well as strategic management and pharmacy governance.
Being in the military gives me a pretty tremendous sense of pride, obviously,
being able to put on the uniform in the morning and be proud of that,
be proud of what you're doing, being proud of making a difference,
both when you're working here in the clinic
as well as when you're deployed or on operation overseas.
Getting that chance to really make a difference, not only in Canadians' lives
but other people's lives is quite rewarding and really makes you feel good at the end of the day -
it makes you feel like you're making a difference.