This study was undertaken to determine the factor analytic structure of patient management problems (PMPs) and to determine whether such factors are stable for different groups taking the same examination and for the same group over time. PMPs attempt to simulate, in written form, the process that a physician goes through in managing a patient. Two examinations were administered to a group of medical students, the first during their junior year and the second during their senior year. The second test was also administered to a second class of students during their junior year. Factor analysis results indicated there are two components to medical problem solving as measured by PMPs--data gathering and management. Both factors were stable over groups and over time. (Author/MV)