In the context of a move toward physician participation in counseling patients to reduce risk factors and promote healthy lifestyles, a study was done of whether medical students perceive themselves to be self-efficacious in educating patients for health promotion and of how various educational experiences help to develop self-efficacy. The study focused on primary prevention or health promotion which requires physicians to counsel their patients and to attempt to change their behavior. The study used a self-efficacy theory concerned with individuals' beliefs about their capability to perform particular tasks. For the study, 28 students in their fourth year of medical school were randomly selected and interviewed and asked to complete a nine-item "Self-Confidence in Patient Education for Health Promotion" questionnaire. In addition, interviews were held with six faculty members and document and archive review constituted a third source of data. Among results were the following: (1) learning about health promotion was neither systematic nor comprehensive; (2) significant differences existed in the depth and breadth of student experiences in learning about patient education for health promotion; and (3) self-efficacy perceptions varied with patterns of experience. An appendix contains the questionnaire and 50 references are included. (JB)