USPHS

jennysong81 · Feb 4, 2009

Anyone?? :icon_roll

just_cause, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2009

Jenny, there isn't a huge active UHPS forum presence, so I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed that you haven't gotten a response 6 hours after your initial posting...

Have you had the chance to email a recruiter in your area and perhaps ask for a local POC that you can visit, phone, shadow?

Jams95 · Feb 5, 2009

Since you are in a BSN program have you visited the College of Public Health at your University? My University COPH hosted the USPHS for a meet and greet. My husband asked that I look into all areas of Service, so I did. Not really for me. The session talked about benefits and getting a job, but it was hard to follow frankly, because it doesn't seem well defined. Deployments are national only and 2 weeks maximum. To advance, or promote, you need to be willing to relocate (at least 3 times) and will need your Masters Degree (probably in Public Health). Plan on serving 30 years before you retire.

That really doesn't answer your question about working in rural settings. Maybe someone else can jump in, I was just giving you some background. You could do an Allnurses USPHS search. There has been an individual who posts periodically that sounds to be in the USPHS. Incidentally the Army Nurse Corps has a Public Health branch for active duty officers.

leonarddi · Mar 11, 2009

Hi,
Are there any USPHS commissioned officers who can share their experiences working in IHS facilities?
What is it like living in rural areas? Please share your stories with me because I am interested in joining USPHS upon graduation (finishing up my BSN and will be done in May).
Thank you :)

Hi i m a PHS officer although i m not a nurse. I was prior military and decided to cross-over to the PHS side. IHS is definitely a hit and miss. Some IHS are awesome and some are not. I m on my first IHS assignment and in my personal opinion it's very isolated but then bear in mind that i m from the city. There are other people who find this assignment not too bad but then again they come from a different background so it all depends on your background.

PHS is definitely more relaxed than the military but then again after being from the DOD side i find PHS lacking of structure. Some people like it some people don't.

I m not sure if i helped you at all but feel free to contact me if you have more questions.

NursePamela · Mar 15, 2009

Regarding "plan on working for 30 years before you retire". I thought public health has the exact same benefits that all the active duty branches do, like retire in 20??

just_cause, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2009

you could look it up yourself vs someones forum anecdotal comments

Retirement

Retirement is one of the most important decisions made during a Commissioned Officer's career. PHS officers are fortunate to have an excellent retirement plan. The purpose of this summary is to describe the basic features of the retirement annuity, to describe the retirement process, and to identify some of the important resources.

Retirement Plans

There are 3 different retirement plans for individuals who are on active duty with the USPHS. They are defined by the date when you first entered on active duty with any uniformed service. All three retirement plans require that you serve a minimum of 20 years in order to qualify.

Plan 1 (FINAL PAY): for those individuals who first joined a uniformed service on or before September 7, 1980. An officer receives 2.5% for each full year of service and additional fractional percentage for each full month of any partial year. After 20 years you would receive 50% of your highest monthly basic pay (usually your current basic pay). After 30 years you would receive 75% of your highest pay.

Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) are given annually based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of inflation. Under the Final Pay System, the annual COLA is equal to CPI. This is a different index than the one used for active duty annual pay raises. The index used for active duty pay raises are based upon average civilian wage increases. Thus, retirement pay COLAs and annual active duty pay raises will differ.

Plan 2 (HIGH-3): for those individuals who first joined a uniformed service 1) after September 7, 1980 but before August 1, 1986 or 2) Entered on or after August 1, 1986 AND did not choose the Career Status Bonus and REDUX retirement system (Plan 3 below). An officer receives 2.5% for each full year of service and additional percentage for each full month of any partial year. After 20 years you would receive 50% of your RETIRED PAY BASE, which is the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. After 30 years you would receive 75% of your RETIRED PAY BASE (the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay).

Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) are given annually, determined in the same manner as Plan 1 above.

Plan 3 (REDUX): for those individuals who first joined a uniformed service on or after August 1, 1986 AND elected to receive the Career Status Bonus (if you do not elect to receive the Career Status Bonus, you will be under the High-3 retirement system (Plan 2 above). An officer receives 2% for each full year of service for the first 20 years. After 20 years you would receive 40% of your RETIRED PAY BASE, which is the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay. Between 20 and 30 years you accrue credit for retirement at the rate of 3.5% per year and additional percentage for each full month of any partial year. So after 30 years, you would receive 75% of your RETIRED PAY BASE (again, the average of your highest 36 months of basic pay). This Plan is called "REDUX" because your annuity after 20 years is reduced as compared to the other two plans. Retirees under this plan receive a smaller cost-of-living increase each year until you reach age 62.

One of the big choices for officers under Plan 3, who entered the Corps after July 31, 1986, is whether to remain under the redux retirement system or choose to be in the non-REDUX retirement system. At 15 years they will have the one-time option of choosing to stay under the "REDUX" retirement system and taking a one-time $30,000 bonus, or switching to the "high three" retirement system without the bonus. Officers will receive personnel orders from OCCO informing the officer about the retirement election.

A feature unique to REDUX is a re-computation of retirement pay at age 62. Two adjustments are made. The first adjusts the multiplier to what it would have been under High-3 (Plan 2). For example, a 20-year retiree's new multiplier would become 50%, a 24-year retiree's multiplier would become 60% but a 30-year retiree's would remain 75%. This new multiplier is applied against the individual's original average basic pay for his or her highest 36 months. Then the second adjustment is done. Full CPI for every retirement year is applied to this amount to compute a new base retirement salary. At age 62, the REDUX and High-3 retirement salaries are equal. But, REDUX COLAs for later years will again be set at CPI minus 1%.

Note 1: Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS), Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), medical, dental, board-certified, or other special pays are not considered in the computation of your retired pay (plan 1) or in the computation of the RETIRED PAY BASE (plans 2 & 3). Only BASIC PAY is used.

Note 2: The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, DoD, maintains a very useful web site that provides a complete description of the three plans. There is a calculator on the site that will help you make that choice for their particular situation. It is at: Military Compensation; Retirement.

Note 3: All three plans are non-contributory, but are considered qualified pension plans by the Internal Revenue Service and as such will impact on your ability to write off contributions to an IRA.

Note 4: Officers are always retired effective the 1st day of the month and receive retired pay starting the month of their retirement date, regardless of age. Regardless of the number of years worked, 75% is the maximum amount of retired pay .

Note 5: Medical Officers only – Four years of medical school and one year of internship may be creditable towards computation of retired pay.

Note 6: Dental Officers only – Four years of dental school may be creditable towards computation of retired pay.

Note 7: In order to receive a promotion to Flag grade (O-7 or above), the officer must agree to serve at least 3 additional years in the Corps after promotion before seeking to retire on a voluntary basis. Also, an officer who agrees to serve on a detail to an organization outside PHS must agree to return to a PHS assignment for at least 2 years following the detail agreement before they will be voluntarily retired.

Procedure to Retire

1. Prepare memorandum to Director, OCCO, through the officer’s supervisor, requesting permission to retire and specifying the desired retirement date. (MUST be the first day of a month)

2. Have supervisor prepare and/or sign a memo supporting retirement and indicating that it will not have an adverse effect on program.

3. Forward memos through CIO Commissioned Corps Personnel Contact to the CDC Office of Commissioned Corps Personnel.

4. Schedule an appointment for a retirement physical.

5. At least 30 days prior to the last day physically present at the duty station, submit PHS-1373 form to OCCO.

Voluntary Retirement- less than 30 years service

Officers who request voluntary retirement, less than 30 years, but more than 20 years, must formally request retirement through a memorandum to the Director, OCCO. The Officer’s request for retirement then will be considered by the bi-monthly OCCO Retirement Board. Once a request for retirement has been approved by the Board, the Officer may set their retirement date within six months of the Board action. However, the decision to retire is irrevocable once approved by the board.

Sample Memo - Voluntary Retirement – Officer Request (MS Word - 33 KB)

Sample Memo – Voluntary Retirement –

Supervisor Concurrence – No Rehire (MS Word - 35 KB)

Sample Memo – Voluntary Retirement –

Supervisor Concurrence – Rehire Same Program (MS Word - 34 KB)

Sample Memo – Voluntary Retirement –

Supervisor Concurrence – Rehire Change Program (MS Word - 34 KB)

30-year retirement

Officers, who do not hold flag rank, will be involuntarily retired at 30 years. Approximately 6 months prior to retirement, OCCO will send the Officer a letter notifying the Officer of their upcoming 30 year anniversary. The Officer must submit a PHS-1373 (PDF, 18 KB) at least 30 days prior to their last day they are physically present at their duty station. The Officer will be retired on the first of the month following the anniversary of the Officer’s 30 years.

NursePamela · Mar 15, 2009

WOW! That is a lot of info. Thanks.

So,, "basically" it is the same as the other branches plus a few extra choices and strings. Unless I am understanding wrong. After 20 years you get 50% of your base pay.

leonarddi · Mar 15, 2009

WOW! That is a lot of info. Thanks.
So,, "basically" it is the same as the other branches plus a few extra choices and strings. Unless I am understanding wrong. After 20 years you get 50% of your base pay.

You are correct. After 20 yrs its 50% and after 30 yrs its 75%.

The thing you have to remember is your age. PHS will accept an officer up to the age of 44 as after 20 years you'll be 64 and eligible to retire.

Let's say you are 30 years old currently then you can definitely stay 30 years, unless the PHS sees you unfit for duty (which could be due to physical, license,etc)

As i mentioned in my previous post PHS is definitely more relaxed than the military. For those who've never been in the military and don't want to be in the military this is the way to go.

just_cause, BSN, RN · Mar 15, 2009

..and to those who are prior service and want something similar to a military environment... PHS is probably not the way to go

3dogs1cat · Mar 15, 2009

I work at a rural IHS facility. I love the Commission Corps but I am prior civilian with no military experience.

Being rural means: going to the mall is 3 hours away, you have one grocery store that has limited supplies which means you go 3 hours away with a cooler to get food that you are used to, you live 6 hours from an airport that does not cost you an extra 300 dollars to fly out of, and all of your friends are people you work with.

On the positive side, you save loads of money, learn how to be self-reliant, have loads of natural beauty around and do things you might not do if you lived in the city such as gardening, scrapbooking, and going back to school.

If you have kids or are single, these are two tough situations because the schools are not the best and there may not be any single people you would be interested in dating because you work with most of them.

Rural IHS as a corps member means that you are short staffed a lot and when you have an emergency situation you really have to think on your feet.

I would not change this experience in my life but you need to be forewarned that even if you live in a "small town" now. This is totally different.

I have lived in a rural area for over two years now and just starting to feel comfortable with it.

jennysong81 · Mar 15, 2009

Can you transfer to Army if you decide later on? If so, how complicated is the process?