Background: Despite a large percentage of health care costs being related to smoking, obesity, and substance abuse, most physicians are not confident in motivating patients to change health behaviors. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, patient-centered approach for eliciting behavior change. The purpose of this study was to teach students MI skills and assess their confidence and knowledge during the psychiatry clerkship using smoking cessation as the target behavior. Methods: Using a pretest/posttest design, 98 students were given a 10-item questionnaire during the psychiatry clerkship to assess their knowledge and confidence in health behavior change. Students received a 3-hour presentation on the principles of MI and practiced skills through role play. Students were encouraged to utilize these skills with patients. Results: Paired t tests results showed significant differences pre- and postclerkship for nine of the 10 items, including the student's confidence in working with patients in the area of smoking cessation. Conclusion: Students can gain basic knowledge and increased confidence in working with patients for promoting behavioral change, even with a brief session, taught by nonexperts in motivational interviewing theory.