In the 1980s, scholars at the University of Southern California's Department of Occupational Therapy did something so audacious, creative and bold that, even in 2019, it almost defies belief. They created an entirely new academic discipline known as occupational science to formally study "occupations" - the productive, social and physical activities that people do in the course of their everyday lives - and the impact of occupations on health, development and quality of life.
In the fall of 1989, the world's first PhD in occupational science students began classes at USC. During the past 30 years, the PhD program has trained 77 graduates who now hold faculty appointments at higher education institutions throughout the nation and in 8 international countries. Twenty academic programs in occupational science now exist around the world. While grant funding is not a full measure of scientific importance and impact, USC Chan faculty members today hold more than $18 million in active, federal research funding.
Learn more at chan.usc.edu/os.