With the World Health Professions Regulation Conference just one month away, a session chair has spoken of her excitement that the event will help all health professionals answer fundamental questions about protecting the public. Marlene Smadu, a Vice-President of Quality and Transformation in Saskatchewan, Canada, will be chairing the conference's introductory session on "Challenges facing health professional regulation". She hopes the conference will draw a broad array of people from all countries – "because it is from that diversity that we'll learn." "I think every professionals from every type of health system can gain from discussing what health professional regulation is and sharing lessons from their part of the world," she said. "I'm thoroughly impressed by the expertise and diversity of speakers we have, and with 10-12 key global issues coming up in our opening session, it will really get people from all backgrounds talking – which is what you want in a one-and-a-half day networking opportunity." Marlene Smadu is particularly interested in a presentation being given by Margaret Mungherera from Mulago National Referral Hospital in Uganda, who is currently President of the World Medical Association. "She'll be talking about the evolution of collaboration between the health professions in Africa to address the health needs of their population and the challenges this creates for regulation. What intrigues me about that is that health professionals aren't waiting for governments to change regulatory structures before implementing innovative approaches – they are pulling together to guarantee safe, seamless healthcare." "Experiences like that raise fundamental issues for health professionals about how to pull together the building blocks to build the right kind of health service regulation." | 
