Internal medicine residents in two programs providing different amounts of training in geriatrics were surveyed in 1988 regarding their opinions about the management of four geriatric problems and two traditional internal medicine problems. The residents generally agreed that geriatric problems were legitimate concerns in a general internal medicine practice but demonstrated less confidence in the management of geriatric problems than in the management of traditional problems. Residents from the program that provided more extensive training in geriatrics evidenced greater support for nondiscriminatory care of elderly diabetics; otherwise there was no convincing evidence of differences between the two programs. The authors conclude that educational efforts in geriatrics need to target trainees' confidence in the management of geriatric problems.