Pocket Prescriber: 2004-5

The 'Pocket Prescriber' fills the as-yet vacant niche for a true pocketbook providing essential clinical pharmacology information with heavy emphasis on what junior doctors most need in practice on the wards. This information includes reference details of drugs such as doses, when a drug is indicated and when not, with special attention to contraindications/ dangers and common side effects to look out for, and warn the patient of, before starting the drug. A significant section of the book is given over to dealing with common problems that arise with prescribing, for example drugs that are complicated to prescribe (e.g. insulin, anticoagulants, inotropes, controlled drugs) or where choice is difficult (e.g. antihypertensives, antibiotics). Targeted primarily at junior doctors, it will also provide basic pharmacology information and facts about each drug in order to ensure it remains accessible and a useful learning tool for students.

Timothy R.J. Nicholson MBBS (London), BSc (London), MSc (Oxon), MRCP Psychiatry SHO, South London & Maudsley Hospital Training Rotation, London, UK

The author has a background as an SHO in General Medicine (St George's hospital), Endocrinology and Cardiology (Hammersmith Hospital training scheme) & Neurology (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen sq). He is currently a psychiatry SHO at the Maudsley Hospital, King's College where he aims to combine psychiatry with neurology in an academic and clinical career.


Editorial Advisor:
Donald RJ Singer BMedBiol, MD, FRCP
Professor of Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology Department, Leicester-Warwick Medical Schools, University of Warwick, Coventry