The recent opening of an official register for medical laboratory scientists in South Africa has prompted an examination of the professional role, training and qualification of one particular group of scientists, namely clinical chemists working in hospital pathology departments. Lack of recognition of the potential contribution of these non-medical graduates towards improved health care, together with the lack of facilities for their professional advancement, has hitherto inhibited the growth and development of clinical chemistry in this country. An urgent need is the local establishment of a specialist postgraduate qualification open to the non-medical clinical chemist.