Evolving curriculum design: a novel framework for continuous, timely, and relevant curriculum adaptation in faculty development.

The time lag between needs assessment and implementation of faculty development curricula assumes a certain stability of participants' individual and contextual needs which may not reflect the often complex and shifting priorities in health professional schools. In addition to the variability of issues they face, participants are typically better able to recognize and articulate their needs once engaged in a curriculum.This article is a conceptual description of how applying an umbrella strategy to curriculum design illuminated an iterative methodology for continuous adaptation of the 2004-2006 University of Toronto Education Scholars Program in real time to the emergent needs of participants and their context.