MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Geri Pain Rheum Jul 17-19, 2026

The Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Geriatrics/Pain/Rheumatology conference is an educational event organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization that provides exceptional continuing medical education (CME). The conference will be held from July 17-19, 2026, at the Kimpton Hotel Eventi in New York, NY.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

Utilize a comprehensive geriatric assessment to identify potential issues in the elderly patient.

Describe the assessment and evidence-based treatment plans for heart failure (both reduced and preserved ejection fraction) in collaboration with cardiology.

Review common lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) that may progress to urinary incontinence, and initiate treatment options.

Diagnose and treat cognitive impairment, dementias, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Utilize current evidence to design treatment strategies for osteoarthritis.

Describe how non-surgical activity modification and physical therapy can benefit low back pain patients.

Compare the benefits and side effect profiles of pharmacologic treatment options for fibromyalgia.

Design opioid pain management strategies.

Describe the differential diagnoses of inflammatory arthritis based on clinical presentation and laboratory workup.

Identify the risks and benefits of utilizing bisphosphonates in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Diagnose and treat gout and pseudogout.

Target Audience

This program is targeted to office-based primary care providers and other health professionals with updates in primary care medicine.
Best for Primary Care Physicians, Geriatricians, Pain Management Specialists, and Rheumatologists.

Topics

Geriatrics – Approach to the Geriatric Patient: The demographics of aging and the physiologic changes in the elderly patient; Medication use in the elderly including changes in age-related pharmacokinetics and pharmacodymamics and medication adherence; Review of risky medications often used in elderly patients.

Geriatrics – Heart Failure in Older Adults: Recognition of the high mortality associated with heart failure; Understanding how to diagnose heart failure and the difference between reduced ejection fraction and preserved ejection fraction heart failure; Evidence based treatments available for heart failure.

Geriatrics – Urological Disorders in the Older Adult: Review of two very common conditions seen in the elderly population: benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and urinary incontinence; Pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, recommended evaluation and management options for BPH; Review of the anatomy and mechanism of normal urinary function, causes of incontinence, the evaluation and management.

Pain – Chronic Pain Types and Osteoarthritis: Chronic pain is much more complex than just acute pain that lasts a long time; The physiology and categorization of chronic pain will be explored; Osteoarthritis has characteristics of more than one category of chronic pain; Characteristics that affect treatment planning.

Pain – Back Pain: Back pain is a common cause of long term disability; Non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic interventions will be discussed for a variety of causes of back pain including failed back surgery syndrome.

Pain – Fibromyalgia and Cannabinoids for Chronic Pain: Fibromyalgia is a classic example of the nociplastic chronic pain category; A variety of treatment modalities will be discussed; In addition, the evidence regarding the use of cannabinoids for chronic pain will be presented.

Pain – Safe Opioid Prescribing: The role of opioids in the management of chronic pain will be addressed in the contexts of the updated CDC guidelines and the increasing prevalence of opioid use disorder.

Geriatrics – Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias: Review of normal age-related changes in cognitive function as well as disorders of memory and cognition as part of dementing illness; Mental status exams, including their limitations in evaluating memory; Various types of dementia and the importance of an accurate diagnosis; Current treatment options for various kinds of dementia; Potentially reversible dementias; The responsibilities of healthcare providers in managing patients with dementia.

Rheumatology – Osteoarthritis: Pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment.

Rheumatology – Differential Diagnosis of Inflammatory Arthritis: Clinical presentation and laboratory work-up and treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, spondyloarthropathies (SPA), infectious arthritis and systemic sclerosis; Treatment of RA with DMARDs; Treatment principles of SLE, Sjogren’s, SPA and PMR.

Rheumatology – Osteoporosis: Review the epidemiology and pathophysiology of osteoporosis along with interpretation of DEXA scans and FRAX risk assessment; up-to-date therapeutic options.

Rheumatology – Crystal Disease: Gout & Pseudogout: Properly diagnosing and treating crystal diseases such as gout and pseudogout.