After practicing medicine for 26 years, Dennis R. Sinar took a year off to recharge. He is shown with a patient in Greenville, N.C. Photo by Christobal Perez for The New York Times.

Dennis R. Sinar, 61, of Washington, N.C., took seven months off from his practicing medicine to explore strong masonry, antique restoration, archaeology and traditional Eastern medicine.

Lee Attix, 52, of South Portland, Maine, took a year away from his career in sales and marketing to transition to work focused on wildlife.

After her children were grown, Tari Marcou, 54, of Hamilton, Ohio, went on a meditation retreat in France, visited organic farms in Italy and checked out a wildlife awareness center in South Africa, then became a certified tour director.

These experienced adults are profiled in The New York Times by Tanya Mohn, who reports that taking a “gap year” is not just for college kids. Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim Programs in Princeton, N.J., told her that midcareer breaks are garnering more interest. She says the average annual break costs $6,000 to $15,000 or less, if you limit travel and do low-cost programs.

Mohn cites a July 2008 report on adult gap years by Mintel International, a research firm, as calling the potential American market for gap years as a “sleeping giant.”

Dennis J. Garritan, who chairs the department of leadership and human capital management at New York University, says returning employees feel refreshed and offering unpaid leaves helps employers recruit and retain talented employees.

One way to finance a gap year, suggests Susan Griffith, author of Gap Years for Grown-Ups: renting out your home.