-
- Travel, PCS and Transportation
- Important Regulation Changes
- Travel & Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Temporary Duty (TDY)
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Official Travel Forms
- Household Goods Officers
- Transportation
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Links
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
- About Personnel & Career Management
- Awards-Officer Awards Program
- Nominations Procedures and Forms
- Eligibility to Receive Awards
- Approval Levels
- Types of Recognition & Awards Criteria
- Non-PHS Awards
- Write-Up (Narrative) Guidance & Tips
- List of OPDIV Awards Coordinators (PDF, 67kb)
- List of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- 2021 USPHS Awards Process Flowchart (PDF, 702kb)
- FAQs
- PHS Award Recipients
- DEERS Information (PDF, 139kb)
- Important Information Regarding DEERS and ID Cards During COVID-19 (PDF, 57kb)
- eCORPS Information
- Education Benefits Overview
- FAQs
- Forms
- Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)
- eOPF FAQs
- eOPF Status
- FAQs Practice Hours and Special Pay Changes
- Licensure
- Transcripts FAQs
- Extramural and Intramural Training FAQs
- Officer Leave and Absence Request FAQ
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Practice Hours
- Link to list of Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Chairs (PDF, 19kb)
- About Policy
- Commissioned Corps Issuance System
- Equal Opportunity
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Political Restrictions
- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
- SGHG Drill and Ceremonies Manual (PDF, 3.39mb)
- Uniform Specifications
- PHS Hard Shoulder Boards and Sleeve Insignia (Male and Female) (PDF, 828kb)
- PHS Soft Shoulder Marks (Unisex) (PDF, 324kb)
- Medical Requirements for Promotion
- Force Readiness Information
- Link to list of Chief Professional Officers (CPO) (PDF, 348kb)
- Link to list of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- Promotion Board Recommendations
- Not promoted? Now What?
- FAQs
- Board Composition and Scoresheet FAQs
- Officer Promotion Packet Verification System (OPPVS) Timeline & FAQs
- Promotion, Readiness and Compliance FAQs
- Permanent Promotion Eligibility Chart
-
- Visit CDC.gov for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Public Health Updates
As Public Health Service Officers and America’s Health Responders, we stand ready to preserve public health and national security during national or global health emergencies. Our mission is to be out the door as soon as requested, as this is an “all hands on deck” situation. All Corps officers were placed on involuntary deploy or "alert" status effective Wednesday, March 25, 2020, irrespective of the 'on-call month' status. Under Commissioned Corps Directive 121.02, "Deployment and Readiness," as directed by Assistant Secretary for Health, Commissioned Corps Headquarters will deploy Commissioned Corps officers assigned to HHS OpDivs/StaffDivs, either voluntarily or involuntarily and without supervisory approval, who are not considered mission critical, for deployments, under the current National Emergency. Mission critical requests sent to CCHQ are not final until the request is approved by the CCHQ Director as per the POM 821.76 ”Deployment Procedures”. An officer with a non-HHS organization may be deployed in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding between the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the non-HHS organization.
-
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ for CCI 371.03, “Senior COSTEP”
SRCOSTEP is the Senior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program. The U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps created SRCOSTEP to encourage qualified students to consider a career in the USPHS Commissioned Corps. SRCOSTEP enables students in accredited programs that lead to a degree (in specific recruiting fields) to become officers in the Ready Reserve Corps (and be paid) while completing their final year of education. SRCOSTEP enables students to gain experience and training in a professional environment while furthering their professional education.
Students in SRCOSTEP receive full pay and allowances as Ensigns (pay grade O 1 or O-1E if they have prior active duty enlisted uniformed service of at least four years and a day). Their entitlements while in SRCOSTEP are the same as for other Corps officers serving on active duty – including health care benefits (TRICARE), Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), annual leave, base/post exchange and commissary privileges, and Common Access Cards (CAC).
SRCOSTEP officers are not eligible for disability retirement, special pays, or severance pay provisions while on active duty for training.
An applicant must:
- Be a citizen of the United States.
- Meet the medical standards prescribed for appointment to active duty as a career officer.
- Meet the age requirement and other appointment standards found in General Appointment Standards (CCI 231.01) except for requirements that would not apply to a current student.
- Be enrolled in good standing in a postsecondary school in an accredited program leading to a degree that qualifies for the USPHS Commissioned Corps as delineated in the Category Specific Appointment Standards (CCI 231.03). The student must be in the final year of a graduate or undergraduate program.
- Be free of any obligation or commitment that would conflict with active duty as a commissioned officer in the USPHS Commissioned Corps.
Note that an applicant does not have to have to be a former member of JRCOSTEP to apply for SRCOSTEP. The two programs are completely separate.
Agency and/or program officials sponsoring SRCOSTEP officers will select applicants on the basis of their qualifications and the expected needs of the USPHS Commissioned Corps. The competitive selection process reviews the applicant’s transcripts, GPA, resume, references, security check, and medical status.
The SRCOSTEP training must last a minimum of eight months of schooling, and must not last longer than 18 months of schooling. If the student has met all the requirements and submitted all necessary paperwork on time, but could not start SRCOSTEP until less than eight months before graduation due to delays on the part of the USPHS Commissioned Corps, the program/Agency, the school, or other government organizations, then the student can choose between starting SRCOSTEP late (with less than eight months before the end of schooling) or applying the SRCOSTEP paperwork to an application to join the Regular Corps after graduation and licensing.
As officers in the USPHS Commissioned Corps, SRCOSTEP officers must follow the policies and rules of the USPHS Commissioned Corps, except for those that do not apply to SRCOSTEP officers and/or members of the Ready Reserve Corps. They do not have to wear the uniform unless otherwise specified by the Director, CCHQ. Prior to being appointed to the USPHS Commissioned Corps, the applicant must sign an extramural training agreement (form PHS-6373) that sets forth his/her active duty obligation (ADO)
SRCOSTEP officers are full-time students whose assignment is their studies. SRCOSTEP officers need approval from their supervisor for any outside paid employment while school is in session and cannot accept any other paid government position while in SRCOSTEP. If the Agency supervisor of a SRCOSTEP officer determines that the officer’s non‑academic activities are interfering with his/her academic success in class, the supervisor can order the officer to suspend those activities until the officer demonstrates satisfactory academic work.
Before graduation, SRCOSTEP officers will undergo a category appointment review board when they are ready to be called to duty to the Regular Corps after they obtain their qualifying degree. Then, after graduation, SRCOSTEP graduates immediately assimilate into the Regular Corps and begin serving their Active Duty Obligation of twice the time in SRCOSTEP or six months, whichever is greater, to the Corps and the OPDIV/Agency/Program that sponsored them.
Officers who are required to have a license remain in the Ready Reserve at the temporary grade of O-1 during the first 12 months after graduation until licensure is obtained. While in this status, graduates must report directly to their Agency/program to participate in training, prepare for their licensing exam, and work under supervision. This time counts toward retirement, training, and education, and fulfillment of the ADO. If the officer achieves licensure during this time and is fully qualified, he/she assimilates to the Regular Corps retroactively, effective as of the date of the Conversion to General Duty.
Graduates of medical schools will need a license waiver if they cannot obtain a license within 12 months or if they have to complete Post-Graduate Year 1 first. If the officer remains unlicensed or not qualified at the end of this 12-month period (or 12 months from the time the officer is eligible, under the state’s rules, to take the final test for licensure), the USPHS Commissioned Corps will terminate his/her commission and CCHQ will initiate debt collection unless CCHQ agrees to an extension of this deadline.
Yes. A SRCOSTEP has one year to obtain licensure after graduating; however, the Director, CCHQ may extend this deadline. The extension cannot be longer than two years.
A. Unless the Surgeon General determines that this requirement should be waived in the best interest of the Corps, an officer must serve in an assignment (other than training) for a minimum of two years before the Corps permits him or her to pursue any additional graduate education or residency.
Last Updated: 2/28/22