As we look to the future, there is a growing gap between what we will need medical experts to do and the training we provide them. While medical education has a long history of being guided by theories of expertise to inform curriculum design and implementation, the theories that currently underpin our educational programs do not account for the expertise necessary for excellence in the changing healthcare context. Adaptive expertise provides a theoretical and educational framework for understanding and developing the experts we need. In this discussion, Dr. Mylopoulos will present the imperative for adaptive expertise in healthcare, explore the cognitive science of adaptive expertise and describe the curricular strategies that support the development of adaptive expertise in medicine.