Integrating the emerging evidence base for medicine, measuring quality of care, reducing medical errors, and understanding the managed care environment all present new challenges to the processes and outcomes of hospital education. Establishing priorities for hospital-based education is critical as cost containment measures influence education budgets. This article examines the learning modalities preferred by health care educators in their own educational experiences and the implications of preferences for newly emerging roles in hospital education.To determine if a typology based on learning modalities has utility for helping health care educators establish priorities, a pilot study was conducted using three groups of health care educators. Subjects in the pilot study completed a questionnaire that asked them to list three examples of their most important recent learning experiences.Sixty-six subjects reported 181 learning experiences. These 181 learning experiences were divided into four learning modalities displayed in a 2 x 2 matrix based on "motivation" and "management" of learning as follows: 97 in problem solving, 52 in training, 16 in schooling, and 16 in hobbying.From this study, it appears that problem solving is the prime learning modality of adults in health care, and departments of hospital education would be well advised to focus on practical learning and problem solving when developing their educational activities. This finding supports the use of selected modalities of education in meeting the new challenges of hospital education.