Objectives: To qualitatively describe student perceptions of small group motivational interviewing (MI) training facilitated by either faculty or students. Method: Patient counseling skills are becoming increasingly important for pharmacists, and MI can be effective in promoting positive and reducing maladaptive health behaviors. Second-year professional pharmacy students (N 5 44) engaged in small group MI educational sessions facilitated by a trained third-year pharmacy student or faculty member. Students (N 5 9, 7 from student-facilitated 2 from faculty-facilitated) were randomly selected to participate in a focus group session regarding their experience. Guiding questions were created for the session after an extensive review of the literature and discussion amongst researchers. Follow-up questions were asked based on participant responses. Discussions were moderated by trained research assistants who took notes and recorded the sessions using LiveScribe pens. Data were transcribed verbatim, and QSR NVivo 10 was used to perform content analysis and identify grounded themes in student responses. Results: Predominant themes that emerged included: MI seemed more accessible, providing feedback to peers reinforced their own knowledge, and small groups provided a more open environment to make mistakes. Students also reported that MI techniques still felt somewhat unnatural, they were unsure how to practically fit MI into practice, and that they would like to self-evaluate footage of themselves participating in an MI interview. Implications: This research suggests that peer review focused, small group settings can increase student confidence in MI and health behavior change counseling skills, but work is still needed to reinforce the utility of MI in practice.