MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Cardio Derm May 15-17, 2026

Description

+ Include:  videos + file sub vtt, size:  GB

+ Target Audience: primary care physicians, cardiologists, dermatologists, addiction physicians

+ Sample video: contact me for sample video

+ Information:

1. Overview

The “Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Addiction/Cardiology/Dermatology” is a conference organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization. The event is scheduled to take place from May 15-17, 2026, at the SpringHill Suites Springdale/Zion National Park in Zion, UT.

2. Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

• Describe the work-up, risk assessment and test selection of patients with suspected CAD.

• Implement lifestyle changes as well as lipid and cholesterol guidelines for the prevention of CAD.

• Explain current concepts in the diagnosis and treatment of hypertension.

• Implement treatment strategies reflective of recent guidelines and current evidence based medicine for heart failure.

• Describe strategies for identifying and treating substance use disorders.

• Develop a treatment plan for Alcohol Use Disorder.

• Describe strategies for identifying and treating substance use disorders.

• Describe the role of cannabinoids in the opioid crisis.

• Identify cutaneous findings that serve as surrogates of internal diseases.

• Describe the step-wise approach for the diagnosis and treatment of acne and acneiform eruptions.

• Differentiate benign and malignant skin tumors and employ appropriate interoffice procedures.

• Detect pre-cancerous and cancerous skin lesions.

3. Target Audience

This program is targeted to office-based primary care providers and other health professionals with updates in primary care medicine.

4. Topics

Cardiology

• Work-up of Patients with Suspected CAD: Risk factor evaluation and risk assessment models; Test selection including ECG, echo, nuclear and newer imaging modalities (including discussion of appropriate use criteria–AUC); The usefulness of CT scanning; The role of bio markers and EBCT; Suspected CAD in special populations (women, diabetics, the elderly).

• Primary & Secondary Prevention of CAD: Definitions; AHA/ACC and other lipid guidelines updates; HDL Cholesterol: The good cholesterol?; Metabolic syndrome and/or obesity; Who needs treatment and how much; The role of lifestyle changes, exercise and cardiac rehabilitation; Drug therapy updates; Risk calculation.

• Hypertension: The 2017 AHA/ACC Hypertension Guidelines; The 2024 ESC Guidelines for hypertension; Approaches to treatment thresholds and goals; Choices for initial and combination therapy; Resistant hypertension; Treating special populations: diabetics, the elderly, patients with renal failure.

• Heart Failure: Etiologies and stages of heart failure; ACC/AHA Heart Failure Guidelines; Heart failure with reduced EF (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved EF (HFpEF); Determining patients for referral using biomarkers, eg NT Pro BNP; Treatment options: ACE inhibitors, ARBS, ARNI, beta blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, SGLT2i; The role of devices in treatment and antiplatelet drugs; Issues related to the hospitalized patient with acute decompensated heart failure and readmissions.

Addiction

• Substance Use and Addiction: Screening and Brief Intervention: Essential information and skills needed for identifying substance use concerns; Epidemiology, screening tools and the stages of change; Practical steps for initial intervention in the primary care setting.

• Addiction Psychopharmacology for Alcohol Use Disorder: The scope of alcohol related problems and the societal burden of Alcohol Use Disorder; Overview of FDA-approved as well as pertinent off-label pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorder.

• Substance Use and Addiction: Diagnosis and Treatment: Definition of addiction and its neurobiological basis; Examination of the diagnosis of substance use disorder and ASAM’s multidimensional assessment; Treatment and relapse challenges; The use of motivational interviewing.

• Addiction Psychopharmacology for Opioid Use Disorder: Opioid crisis update; Assessing risk factors for opioid overdose; FDA approved medication for treating overdose; FDA approved medication assisted treatment options for managing opioid addiction.

Dermatology

• Skin Manifestations of Systemic Disease: Skin will often reflect signs of systemic diseases, be useful for diagnosis, or suffer from a complication of disease or its treatment; Diagnosis of rheumatalogic, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and psychologic conditions based on cutaneous findings.

• Acne and Acneiform Eruptions: Identification of noninflammatory open or closed comedones and inflammatory lesions; Determination of treatment therapies based on acne grading scale; Bacterial folliculitis, drug-induced acne, hidradenitis suppurativa, miliaria, perioral dermatits, pseudofolliculitis barbae, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis; Topical and systemic therapy.

• Benign Skin Tumors: Proper diagnosis and treatment of common benign tumors; Biopsies and histopathologic examination; Nevi, seborrheic keratosis keloids, hemangiomas and miscellaneous tumors; When to refer.

• Premalignant and Malignant Skin Tumors: Recognition of precursors of malignancies; Excisional and punch biopsies; Actinic keratosis, Bowen’s disease, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, melanoma and other selected tumors; Risk reduction education.