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It can take some juggling to fit a sabbatical into a teaching career, and stretching a sabbatical over two semesters might seem next to impossible. But Michael Zborowski knew what he was up against when planning time away through fall 2007 and spring 2008.

Zborowski, an associate professor of psychology, took the year to gain expertise in teaching and supervising psychiatry resident students and to develop and implement an inpatient group psychotherapy program at the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC). And despite being very busy for 12 months, he said, he wished he could have accomplished more.

“Trying to take a full-year sabbatical can be prohibitive for a number of reasons, but it does offer the opportunity to get very involved with what you’re doing,” Zborowski said. “During my sabbatical, if not for issues surrounding a looming merger between ECMC and Kaleida Health, I would have also tried to expand my involvement in developing additional treatment programs. It’s something I still hope to tackle in the near future.”

Zborowski, a licensed clinical psychologist who runs a limited private practice during evening hours, began his sabbatical in July 2007 by working with residents in the Department of Psychiatry at the University at Buffalo’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences through an academic appointment as a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry. He provided six months of clinical supervision for first- and second-year residents during their rotation on inpatient psychiatric service. From October to December, he taught an advanced psychotherapy course for third- and fourth-year psychiatry residents. And throughout the entire sabbatical, he provided individual psychotherapy training and supervision.

“I had the opportunity to work with some gifted resident students and staff,” Zborowski said. “It was great to see intellectual curiosity stimulated. But I missed my own colleagues and students at Buffalo State, too.”

In January 2008, Zborowski began an in-service assignment at ECMC. He developed a group psychotherapy program, figured out how to tie the project’s note-keeping system into ECMC’s existing computer network, and then trained doctors, nurses, social workers, and interns. Patients responded very well to the program, which, Zborowski said, is the first of its kind in Buffalo in nearly 20 years.

“I enjoyed getting back into inpatient psychiatric work,” Zborowski said. “I hadn’t engaged these types of patients in a long time, and the experiences helped me hone old skills and gain new ones.”

Zborowski said group psychotherapy is efficient and can be valuable in different ways. “It aids interpersonal understanding and helps people open up in a group setting,” he said. “By using a multidisciplinary treatment approach and making discussions personally relevant to patients, the setting helped them understand and manage painful experiences and anger. Group psychotherapy gives people a voice, and it helps doctors like me to address important problems faced by patients.”

Zborowski is confident that his sabbatical will yield long-term benefits for Buffalo State. The experiences at UB and ECMC connected him with many professionals in the Western New York community, giving him more knowledge of potential internship sites and applied research opportunities. Zborowski said he also engaged with people who were either unfamiliar with Buffalo State or who, he hopes, found a new appreciation for the college after working with him.

Next up for Zborowski: finding time for meaningful writing on applied clinical issues.

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