This critical review found Dutch research to be strong at the undergraduate and residency levels and more or less absent in continuing medical education. It confirms the importance of coaching medical students, giving constructive feedback, and ensuring practice environments are conducive to learning though it has proved hard to improve them. Residents learn primarily from experiences encountered in the course of clinical work but the fine balance between delivering clinical services and learning can easily be upset by work pressure. More intervention studies are needed. Qualitative research designs need to be more methodologically sophisticated and use a wider range of data sources including direct observation, audio-diaries, and text analysis. Areas for improvement are clear but achieving results will require persistence and patience.