Introduction by Vice Chancellor Steve Goldstein
As we commemorate Mental Health Awareness Month this May, our Healthcare Workforce Pathways series spotlights an innovative program reshaping healthcare education. The UC Irvine School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences has integrated Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training into its Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum, setting a new standard for comprehensive patient care.
This initiative equips student pharmacists with the skills to identify and respond to signs of mental health issues. It exemplifies UC Irvine’s commitment to advancing healthcare education to meet the evolving needs of our communities. By incorporating MHFA training, we are contributing to a broader shift in healthcare delivery. This approach recognizes the critical interplay between mental and physical well-being, preparing professionals who can bridge the gap between these essential aspects of health.
As we prepare the next generation of pharmacists, we are ensuring they are uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive care that encompasses both mental and physical health needs, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes and a more integrated healthcare system.
Empowering Future Pharmacists with Mental Health First Aid Skills
Featuring:
Farah Khorassani, PharmD, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
Erin Knox, PharmD, School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences
In a healthcare landscape where it is estimated that more than one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness, the need for comprehensive mental health training across all healthcare disciplines has never been more critical. Recognizing this need, Mental Health First Aid training is now a mandatory component of the PharmD program at UC Irvine. The training goes beyond theoretical knowledge, incorporating hands-on experience through sample cases that simulate real-world scenarios.
Farah Khorassani, PharmD, health sciences associate clinical professor and course coordinator, emphasizes the program’s significance: “Mental Health First Aid equips individuals with invaluable skills that are applicable both personally and professionally, fostering resilience and support in everyday life, clinical settings and workplaces.”
Mental Health First Aid equips individuals with invaluable skills that are applicable both personally and professionally, fostering resilience and support in everyday life, clinical settings and workplaces.
Farah Khorassani, PharmD
The training covers actionable areas such as:
- Recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health issues
- Understanding the impact of mental health problems
- Learning effective strategies for providing initial help
- Guiding individuals towards appropriate professional help
The MHFA training at UC Irvine benefits from a diverse team of instructors, bringing together expertise from various perspectives. Alongside Khorassani, the program is co-led by Erin Knox, PharmD, director of experiential pharmacy education. Two student pharmacists from the 2024 cohort, Busola Oladeru and Loan Le, returned to assist with instruction in 2025. This inclusion of peer instructors not only enriches the learning experience but also showcases the lasting impact of the program on its participants.
Student pharmacists receive a well-rounded perspective on mental health care, preparing them for collaborative practice in their future careers. The MHFA training program at UC Irvine has shown significant growth and impact over the past two years. In 2024, the program successfully trained 39 School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences students. The following year, in 2025, the program expanded its reach, training 48 students.
Importantly, the effectiveness of the MHFA training is not just anecdotal. In 2025, a study was conducted using the Opening Minds Stigma Scale, a validated tool for measuring stigmatizing attitudes among healthcare professionals. The results were striking: the 48 participating pharmacy students showed a reduction in stigmatizing attitudes on over half of the items measured by the scale immediately after completing the MHFA training. These impressive results underscore the program’s effectiveness in reducing stigma and improving mental health awareness among future pharmacists.
Building on this success, UC Irvine’s MHFA training has expanded its reach far beyond the campus. Khorassani and Knox have offered the course to practicing community pharmacists and student pharmacists across California who have an interest in psychiatric pharmacy, including faculty and students at UC San Diego.
Knox, who has also provided MHFA training sponsored by the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists, notes, “As an instructor for MHFA, I am positioned to be on the front lines of helping train the UC Irvine community in effectively supporting our friends, family members and patients who may be experiencing mental health challenges.”
As an instructor for MHFA, I am positioned to be on the front lines of helping train the UC Irvine community in effectively supporting our friends, family members and patients who may be experiencing mental health challenges.
Erin Knox, PharmD
A key feature of the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences is its emphasis on experiential education, which lends valuable context to the MHFA training. Students engage in hands-on learning throughout their studies, starting with introductory pharmacy practice experiences in the first three years. This early exposure to community pharmacies, clinics and local hospitals provides valuable real-world context to their classroom learning.
In their final year, students undertake advanced pharmacy practice experiences, applying their knowledge in healthcare environments such as UC Irvine Medical Center, UCLA Health and Children’s Hospital of Orange County. This immersive approach allows students to gain practical experience in patient communication, consultation and medication administration in real-life settings.
The combination of MHFA training and extensive hands-on experience prepares UC Irvine’s pharmacy graduates to be leaders in their field, equipped to handle both the mental and physical aspects of patient care. By integrating MHFA training into its PharmD curriculum, UC Irvine is taking a significant step towards a more comprehensive approach to healthcare education, enhancing the quality of patient care and promoting a more open and supportive approach to mental health.
This innovative program aligns perfectly with the evolving landscape of healthcare, where interdisciplinary collaboration and whole-person care are increasingly recognized as essential. Fulfilling UC Irvine’s mission to Discover, Teach, Heal, the MHFA program is not just training better pharmacists – it is helping to shape a more compassionate, aware and effective healthcare system for all.
