Attending a discussion forum nowadays can feel like no more than a formality; you arrive to find your badge waiting for you, along with the relevant documents and a seat in the auditorium. It rarely strikes those attending that this is a place of knowledge and shared experience. It does not cross their minds that the forum is a concept developed during the Roman Empire to allow the elite population to join the emperor in decision-making. Too often nowadays, a forum has strayed from its purpose and become nothing more than a sales pitch, or even an over-the-top entertainment show. Forums, in general, should be taken more seriously, and even more so if it is a medical forum. At the 2018 Medicine and Law Forum in Riyadh, hosted by the Saudi Law Training Center, it was apparent how unfamiliar those attending the event were with some of the laws governing medical practice, especially the Law of Practicing Healthcare Professions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This law stipulates the duties of healthcare professionals and establishes a code of conduct for practicing medicine in the Kingdom. One of its main stipulations is that healthcare professionals are required to provide patients with the highest quality medical care available. It is their duty to treat patients with the utmost importance in terms of safety precautions, medical competence and clinical awareness. However, many health care professionals do not follow this law, either in its essence or its purpose. The law exists in the first place to raise the level of competence of health care professionals and to draw to their attention the potential legal consequences of ignoring it. At the forefront of these is the concept of medical malpractice. The law sheds light on that concept and explains the procedures all the way from the hospital to the court. Health centers, commissions and administrative directorates are the agencies that look into cases before the courts reach verdicts. Other aspects of the law include the ethical conduct of health care professionals. There is a widespread and conflicting dialogue between health care and legal professionals, and there is a gap in methodology between the camps that has negatively affected patients. It would be unproductive to lay the responsibility solely at the door of health care professionals; other agencies should take a fair part of the blame. These include academic medical institutions, whose job is to educate medical students about the essential ethics needed in their future professional life. It is important to point out that the health care profession, more so than any other, is a personal and emotional one; this sets a high bar for health care professionals in their personal dealings with patients and colleagues alike. It is essential for healthcare professionals to create a forum for dialogue between themselves and the legal profession. If they believe there are inadequacies in the law, it is their responsibility to point them out, and explain how the law should be updated or overhauled entirely. • Dimah Talal Alsharif is a Saudi legal consultant, head of the health law department at the law firm of Majed Garoub and a member of the International Association of Lawyers. Twitter: @dimah_alsharif