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. 2018 Sep 14:7:119.
doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_70_18. eCollection 2018.

Sabbatical as a part of the academic excellence journey: A narrative qualitative study

Mohammad H Yarmohammadian  1   2 , Patricia Davidson  2 , Chao Hsing Yeh  2
Affiliations

Sabbatical as a part of the academic excellence journey: A narrative qualitative study

Mohammad H Yarmohammadian et al. J Educ Health Promot. .

Abstract

Introduction: Sabbaticals were first offered by Harvard University in the late 17th century to provide "renewal" for faculty members. In this period of career development, a professor might learn new techniques, expand a research program, or finish off that book or pile of languishing manuscripts. This article tried to organize lived experiences of a visiting scholar from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences to Johns Hopkins University. The research aimed to study the context and conditions of the sabbatical in an alternative academic setting.

Methods: This article applies a narrative qualitative study integrated with Eisner critical and connoisseurship approach as a combined naturalistic methodology. Using narrative inquiry and reflective analysis in form of observations and audit reports, written dairy notes and memos, the content analyzed thematically and extracted the themes of lived experiences as well as lessons learned and then have been transformed into tables.

Results: Extracted themes from research sources are categorized into three main themes: organizational and professional experiences; teaching, instruction, and curricular experiences; and research and technology management experiences. These are resulted in the explanation of the field and events (description), discussion about them (interpretation), followed by concluding remarks (evaluation). It also represents research questions and findings in descriptive and interpretation phases.

Discussion and conclusions: This article addresses some descriptions, interpretations, and evaluations extracted from the experiences through answering the research questions. It categorizes these practical lessons into three categories: (1) lessons about becoming a lifelong learner, (2) lessons about remaining a professor, and (3) innovative experiences.

Keywords: Academic development; academic journey; educational excellence; field report; higher education; medical education; observational study; sabbatical; sabbatical leave; visiting professor; visiting scholarship; visiting scientist.

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Conflict of interest statement

The first author MHY is a sabbaticalee under the mentorship of the second (PD) and third authors (CHY). The first author developed the paper with ideation and amendments of the 2nd and 3rd authors. There is no any conflict of interest to be mentioned.

References

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