Student Receives Prestigious Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Fellowship

Ani Ourfalian is the first student from MCPHS to receive the scholarship, recognizing her academic excellence and dedication to community service.

For the first time, a Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) student has been selected as a Phi Kappa Phi Fellow. Ani Ourfalian, a student in the Premedical Health Studies Pathway—Physician Assistant Studies program, will receive an $8,500 award from the honor society to use toward her graduate degree.

“It’s an honor to be able to represent MCPHS in this way,” said Ourfalian, MPAS ’27, BS ’25, who is one of 62 students to receive the fellowship this year. “I’m grateful to our faculty advisors for their support and kindness and for my family who are going through this journey with me.”

Phi Kappa Phi is the oldest and most selective multidisciplinary collegiate honor society in the country. It has more than 300 chapters across the United States, its territories, and the Philippines. Each chapter can nominate one member to be considered for the fellowship every year.

“I’m very proud of and excited for Ani,” said Mattia Migliore, PhD, RPh, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology and President of Phi Kappa Phi at MCPHS. “It’s a great honor to be the first student from our University to receive this award.”

Dr. Migliore helped lead the effort to start a Phi Kappa Phi chapter at MCPHS, which was officially instated in 2014. Today, the chapter has members across the Boston, Worcester, and Manchester, NH campuses.

The MCPHS chapter of Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 100 students every year. To qualify for induction, students must be in the top 7.5 percent of the junior class, the top 10 percent of the senior class, or the top 10 percent of all graduate students. In its history, Phi Kappa Phi has inducted more than 2 million members.

After an application process through the MCPHS chapter, Dr. Migliore and other faculty board members decided to nominate Ourfalian for the fellowship.

“Ani is a very special student with lots of ambition, and we felt she deserved the nomination,” said Iman Zaghloul, PhD, Awards Officer of Phi Kappa Phi at MCPHS. “She is committed to service at school and in her community. The award is a well-deserved recognition of her hard work and perseverance.”

Ourfalian was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi in November 2023. She is President of the Armenian Students Organization and holds positions with the Student Art Association and the American Sign Language Club. She is also a peer tutor, assisting other students with their academic work.

“Being open-minded to trying new things can make all the difference in the academic experience,” she said. “I try to go to as many student events as I can because I never know who I’m going to meet or what new connection I’ll make.”

In her fellowship application, Ourfalian wrote about working with the Armenian community. She volunteers for Homenetmen Boston, an athletics and scouting organization for Armenian youth. She is also a Sunday school teacher at her Armenian church, where she works with preschoolers.

“I wanted to show how much it means to me to spend time in my Armenian community,” she said. “It’s important to be there for them and give back.”

Ourfalian’s Armenian heritage also allows her to connect with patients on a deeper level. In her application, she shared a story about one of her first patients—an older man in a great deal of pain. The providers struggled to communicate with him because he was upset and did not speak English. When Ourfalian entered the room, she realized he spoke Armenian and could get him the care he needed.

“I walked toward his bed and asked him what he was feeling in Armenian,” she wrote. “His eyes lit up as he looked at me, finally able to understand. He reached out for my hand and held it, and I told him that we were going to help him get better...It warmed my heart to know that I might be able to make an impact on his care. I want to give all patients the care that they deserve.”

Ourfalian is entering her fourth year of study at MCPHS, which marks the beginning of her physician assistant studies courses. For now, she hopes to work in pediatrics but remains open to other possibilities.

“I’m looking forward to clinical rotations and seeing which specialty will click,” she said. “I love working with kids in my community, so I know I will have fun working with them [as a physician assistant].”