In this paper, the author describes the three types of styles (affective, learning, and cognitive) that play roles in education and outlines the history of cognitive- and learning-style research. She then explores the range of ways learning styles can be applied in medical education, including ways to use information about students' learning styles to help them cope with the challenges of content mastery and professional socialization; to offer assistance to students coping poorly with the demands of medical education; and to shape efforts to recruit students from underrepresented racial and cultural groups.