An exploration of the learning style differences between residents and faculty in a pediatric medical department resulted in a comparison of specialist and generalist orientations and the implications the differences might have for generalist education. The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was administered to 17 residents and 22 faculty members in a pediatric department of a training hospital and to 33 elementary school and 16 secondary school teachers in a university class. Concrete Experience (CE), Reflective Observation (RO), Abstract Conceptualization (AC), and Active Experimentation (AE) were derived from participants' ranking of selected words. Strongest areas were analyzed and compared through analysis of variance and chi square statistics. Residents and faculty were significantly different, residents preferring CE and AE, while faculty preferred AC. Elementary teachers (generalists) and secondary teachers (specialists) also had different results, with elementary teachers preferring CE and AE, while secondary teachers preferred AC. Elementary teachers and pediatric residents has similar scores, but elementary teachers and pediatric faculty had significantly different scores. These findings support a generalist versus specialist orientation. They may have implications for instructional design and delivery, teacher-learner relationships, and the recruitment, selection, and retention of primary care physicians. (Contains 4 figures and 15 references.) (Author/SLD)