Health professional education (HPE) has been affected significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to a combination of disruption to healthcare systems, changes to workforce needs, the effects on tertiary education provision and a necessity to innovate. While a challenging time, these were also opportunities in disguise. There is evidence that HPE is historically slow to adapt at the best of times; COVID-19 was an unavoidable catalyst for change. As the world tries to adapt to 'COVID-19 normal' life, it is essential that those in HPE consider what a 'COVID-19 normal' response might be. The learnings noted in this paper draw on recent literature and aim to help health professional educators consider what we have learned from our experiences during the height of the pandemic and ways of advancing curricula, teaching and learning. While the learnings are drawn from the health professions, they likely have relevance to professional and higher education more broadly.