Introduction: The sabbatical leave has been recognized as a universal method to fulfill the increasing needs of academic staff to upgrade their knowledge, as well as to enhance responsiveness to their educational needs. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the existing challenges of sabbatical leave in order to be applied efficiently in each of medical universities in Iran. Methods: This qualitative applied study was conducted in 2013 in Kerman (a city in Southeast of Iran). The study data were collected through several deep interviews with 19 outstanding faculty members who were selected throughout a purposeful and systematic sampling. Topic related open questions were asked, and the data were analyzed utilizing the framework approach to qualitative data. Results: The main challenges of appropriate use of the sabbatical leave were classified into problems concerned with the university, individuals, policy makers, admissions, destinations, banking as well as financial issues, and evaluation and monitoring. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that effective use of the potential capacity of sabbatical leaves in order to promote faculty members, different studies requires a comprehensive plan by which the identified the problems are identified in this study declines to the lowest level.

Keywords: challenge, faculty members, Kerman University of medical sciences, Sabbatical leave

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