The Greek way to the Register: the establishment and operation of the Register for Clinical Chemists-Clinical Biochemists in Greece

In Greece, there is no officially organized training in clinical chemistry for scientists. The Greek Society of Clinical Chemistry-Clinical Biochemistry (GSCC-CB), following the encouragement of the EC4/RC decided to organize a voluntary Register for specialists in clinical chemistry. The following criteria for registration were defined: 1) University *Corresponding author: Demetrios Rizos, PhD, EurClinChem, Assist. Prof. of Clinical Chemistry, Medical School, University of Athens Hormone Laboratory, ‘‘Aretaieion’’ Hospital, 76, Vas. Sophias Avenue, 115 28 Athens, Greece Phone/Fax: q0030-210-7286229, E-mail: drizos@aretaieio.uoa.gr Received May 13, 2011; accepted July 29, 2011; previously published online August 30, 2011 degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Medicine, Pharmacy or other relevant subject. 2) A total of 9 years of university studies and postgraduate specialization in clinical chemistry-clinical biochemistry. 3) A minimum of 4 years of postgraduate specialization in clinical chemistry-clinical biochemistry on the job. 4) The candidate must be practicing clinical chemistry-clinical biochemistry in a laboratory in a medical environment in Greece. The postgraduate specialization in clinical chemistry-clinical biochemistry includes the laboratory training and the theoretical education. The laboratory training is organized by the GSCC-CB according to the Professional Training Dossier. The theoretical education was organized in a series of 18 ‘‘Seminars’’ which was the content of the ‘‘Educational program’’ of the GSCC-CB. Successful completion of the Educational program leads to a Certificate of Competence. The Greek Register has gained equivalence with the EC4 Register and it has 218 members, more than 80 of whom are European clinical chemists.