Because she was still a greenhorn, she lost (though with the highest number of votes of any non-elected candidate). She then separated from politics temporarily, and went to the US to study for two years at the highly prestigious Johns Hopkins University.
由於這次「初試啼聲」以高票落選，張博雅暫時拋開政治，赴笈美國，在著名的約翰霍普金斯大學進修兩年，然後回母校高雄醫學院執起教鞭，一教便是十多年。