Since 1979, medical students, residents, practicing physicians, nurses and other allied health professionals have turned to the “Scut Monkey Book” for learning the essential information on basic patient care. The Clinician's Pocket Reference is based on a University of Kentucky manual entitled So You Want to Be a Scut Monkey: Medical Student's and House Officer's Clinical Handbook. The "Scut Monkey" Program at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine began in the summer of 1978 and was developed by the Class of 1980 to help ease the sometimes frustrating transition from the preclinical to the clinical years of medical school. Based on detailed surveys from UK and 44 other medical schools, the essential information and skills that students should be familiar with at the start of their clinical years was developed. The "Scut Monkey" Program was developed around this core and consisted of a simple reference manual and a series of workshops conducted at the start of the third year. Held originally as a pilot program for the University of Kentucky College of Medicine Class of 1981, the program has been and annual event. It is the responsibility of each new fourth year class to orient the new third year students in basic skills. The success of the program is because it was developed and taught by students for other students. Over the years, students have been the main source of feedback for the book, perhaps another secret to it’s enduring success Over the last 11 editions and 40 years, the book has been a trusted resource for medical students and anyone new to the world of health care providers. An attempt is made to cover the most frequently asked basic management questions that are normally found in many different sources such as procedure manuals, laboratory manuals, drug references, critical care manuals to name a few. This book is not meant as a substitute for specialty specific reference manuals; the core information presented is the essential foundation for the new medical student or health care provider in training. The book is designed to represent a cross-section of medical practices around the country and over the years, contributors form dozens of medical centers have had input. The "Clinician's Pocket Reference" has been translated into several languages including Portugese, Japanese and Chinese. The “Scut Monkey” was honored to have been asked by Warner Brothers, the producers of the TV show "ER" to be one of the prop books used on their series.
Anyone interested in the basic elements of patient care from the history and physical through the ordering and interpretation of basic medical tests to performing bedside procedures or ordering commonly used medications will find the Clinicians Pocket Reference a useful resource. This book has been called the “medical manual of manuals”, the “Swiss army knife for the new medical student” "essential reading for anyone beginning to work on the hospital ward".
The latest 12th edition has been published in 2022 with new chapters on: