| Sumario: | In its 16 years of existence, occupational science has achieved noteworthy success. However, to continue to thrive, the discipline must remain responsive to the changing times and environment. This paper assesses the current health of occupational science based on the plight of other academic disciplines such as sociology and geography whose future is presently threatened. The intellectual vitality of occupational science is strong, yet the discipline must continue to solidify its interdisciplinary commitment, increase the number of publications, and expand its research scope. Beyond this, strategic planning to keep occupational science alive and well in the future will require nurturing the symbiotic relationship between the discipline and the occupational therapy profession. To the extent that occupational therapy thrives, occupational science must be better positioned, with the resource base and links to practice it needs to flourish. Finally, viewing occupational science as a kind of living organism whose survival can be described through principles of evolutionary biology can also help with the formulation of strategic initiatives. In this paper, I use this framework to identify long-term survival strategies for occupational science. I then present an heuristic model for developing customized survival plans for occupational science programs within the US and for the discipline in general. The occupational science program at the University of Southern California is used to illustrate the implementation of the heuristic model in terms of: national and global priorities; university/institutional culture, mission and values; university colleagues, networks, and programs; and departmental research and education programs. I believe occupational science will thrive in the future if occupational scientists develop and implement customized survival plans for their educational programs that are responsive to the opportunities and challenges present in their respective settings.
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