Oakstone UCSF Primary Care Essentials Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Practice 2025

New Release! Comprehensive for Today’s Primary Care Physician

Enhance your clinical expertise and elevate your practice with this comprehensive online course. Primary Care Essentials: Core Curriculum for Ambulatory Practice will help you strengthen your skills in preventive medicine, cardiovascular risk management, chronic disease care, and effective communication—all while deepening your understanding of health equity and the care of vulnerable populations.

Through expert-led lectures and case discussions, you’ll gain practical strategies for optimizing diagnostic testing, applying new medications, and collaborating across specialties and healthcare teams in the care of complex patients. Beyond common clinical challenges, you’ll explore focused updates in dermatology, women’s health, clinical nutrition, neurology, oncology, and infectious diseases.

Chaired by Dr. Robert B. Baron and featuring outstanding UCSF faculty, this continuing medical education course offers the tools and insights you need to maximize quality, safety, equity, and value.

Date of Original Release: November 20, 2025

Learning Objectives

The purpose of this course is to increase competence and improve clinician practice in primary care. We specifically anticipate improvements in skills and strategies to:

Implement new guidelines in office-based preventive medicine including cancer prevention and screening, immunizations, and prevention of cardiovascular disease
Develop up-to-date strategies for common office problems including lipid disorders, diabetes, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, chronic kidney disease, obesity, and STIs
Understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on primary care practice and use best practices to treat patients with COVID, influenza, RSV and other respiratory infections
Manage common problems in women’s health including prevention of cervical cancer, menopause, and osteoporosis
Treat common disorders in dermatology including skin cancer, eczema, acne, hair loss, chronic urticaria, drug eruptions, skin infections, and disorders of aging skin
Understand and treat obesity and use the new obesity medications, surgery, and lifestyle interventions
Perform an effective problem-based history, physical examination, and common procedures in dermatology and office orthopaedics
Understand the best initial management strategies for common cancers, current uses of new cancer medications, and best practices for giving prognostic advice
Expand diagnostic and therapeutic skills for common infectious diseases
Understand best practices in assessment and treatment of common mental health disorders
Use best evidence and optimize patient communication and shared-decision making
Improve interprofessional teamwork and collaboration
Enhance value in medical practice
Become a better clinician and advocate with a deeper understanding of health disparities and the central role of primary care clinicians in providing equitable, patient-centered care
Intended Audience

This activity was designed for practicing internists, family practitioners, advanced practice providers, and all other health professionals interested in providing high quality primary care.

+ Topics:

Controversies in Cancer Screening 2025 – Judith M. E. Walsh, MD, MPH

Best Practices in Immunization – Keeping Up with New Vaccines and New Practice Guidelines – Peter Chin-Hong, MD

Management of Diabetes Mellitus – Implementing the 2025 Guidelines – Robert B. Baron, MD, MS

Chronic Kidney Disease – Integrating New Tests, New Guidelines, and New Medications – Michael G. Shlipak, MD, MPH

Management of Depression and Suicidality in Primary Care – Emma Samelson-Jones, MD

Sunscreens, “Spots” and Skin Cancer – Lindy P. Fox, MD

Cancer Treatment Today – Distinguishing Among Cancer Therapies and Anticipating Their Side Effects – Sam Brondfield, MD, MAEd

Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections – Paul Nadler, MD

Heart Failure – New Strategies for Diagnosis and Treatment – Michael G. Shlipak, MD, MPH

Management of Obesity in Office Practice: How Do We Best Utilize the New Medications? – Robert B. Baron, MD, MS

Current and Emerging Strategies for Osteoporosis – Judith M. E. Walsh, MD, MPH

Advances in Prevention and Treatment of Stroke – What Every Primary Care Clinician Should Know – Kenneth A. Fox, MD

Covid-19, Flu, and RSV – Where Do We Stand with Common Respiratory Infections – Peter Chin-Hong, MD

No Longer a Death Sentence: Distinguishing Curable from Incurable Cancer and Improving Prognostication – Sam Brondfield, MD, MAEd

Best Practices in Urgent Care – Managing Common Acute Disorders in Office Practice – Paul Nadler, MD

Common Dermatologic Disorders – Tips for Diagnosis and Management – Lindy P. Fox, MD

What’s New in Management of Menopause and Peri-menopausal Symptoms? – Judith M. E. Walsh, MD, MPH

Top 10 Infectious Disease Topics That Will Likely Change Your Practice – Peter Chin-Hong, MD

Management of Coronary Artery Disease – How Should the New Guidelines Change Our Practice? – Michael G. Shlipak, MD, MPH

Medications and Psychotherapy for Managing Anxiety – Emma Samelson-Jones, MD

Management of Lipid Disorders in 2025 – Integrating New Diagnostics and New Medications – Robert B. Baron, MD, MS

Novel Cancer Diagnostics – Demystifying Commonly Used Molecular and Genetic Testing in Oncology – Sam Brondfield, MD, MAEd