MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Gastro Pulm Sleep Med Jun 25-28, 2026

1. Overview

Conference Name: Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Addiction/Gastroenterology/Pulmonology/Sleep Medicine.

Organizer: Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization.

Date: June 25-28, 2026.

Location: Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, Nassau, Bahamas.

2. Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

Diagnose and manage patients with asthma.

Design treatment strategies reflective of current evidence-based medicine for common respiratory infections.

Describe the current therapeutic management of COPD.

Discuss diagnosis and screening strategies as well as treatment plans for lung nodules and lung cancer.

Discuss the basic mechanisms of sleep and circadian rhythm disorders.

Develop a therapeutic plan related to common complaints surrounding insomnia and restless legs syndrome.

Review therapeutic options for excessive sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea.

Describe medical issues surrounding RLS, parasomnias and other special sleep issues.

List current treatment recommendations for the management of lower GI bleeding.

Discuss the guidelines for colonoscopic colorectal cancer screening and surveillance.

Recommend appropriate testing for the workup of celiac disease.

Recognize medications and toxins commonly associated with liver injury.

Describe the neurobiology of addiction.

List FDA approved medications for addiction treatment and examine the role of each.

Discuss options for patients with chronic pain addictions.

Apply evidence-based treatment strategies to chronic brain disorders affecting behavioral addictions.

3. Target Audience
This program is targeted to office-based primary care providers and other health professionals with updates in primary care medicine. Best for internists, primary care physicians, addiction medicine specialists, gastroenterologists, pulmonologists, and sleep medicine specialists.
4. Topics
Pulmonology

Asthma: The medical impact of asthma; fundamental role of inflammation, with possible scarring and irreversible loss of lung function; practical points of diagnosis; goal setting management based on levels of severity; risk factors for mortality and treatment in the acute setting; management options for the difficult to control asthmatic patient.

Controversies in the Treatment of Common Respiratory Infections: Acute and chronic bronchitis; pneumonia (community versus hospital-acquired); role of the Pneumonia Severity Index score in determining indication for hospitalization; cost-effective use of antibiotics; clinical significance of drug resistance; guidelines for management.

COPD: Definition; pathophysiology; early detection and intervention; risk reduction; management update including new modalities (including lung volume reduction surgery) and the role of inhaled corticosteroids and domiciliary oxygen.

Lung Cancer Screening & Pulmonary Nodules: Appropriate use of the new lung cancer screening recommendations; Fleischner Society guidelines and American College of Chest Physician Lung Cancer guidelines; approach to definitive evaluation and management strategies.

Sleep Medicine

How Sleep Works: The drivers of sleep and integration of how these drivers can be used to improve sleep; Basic principles of sleep drive, circadian rhythm and sleep associations will be discussed; Related to cases to highlight these principles.

Approach to the Patient Who Can’t Sleep: Discussion of Insomnia, one of the most common complaints related to sleep; Determination of the underlying contributors; Review of a straight forward way to approach the complaint of inability to sleep and construction of therapeutic plans directed at the underlying issues; Common presentations of insomnia and the approach to restless legs syndrome.

Evaluation and Treatment of the Excessively Sleepy Patient: Daytime sleepiness impairs approximately 15% of adults from getting the most out of their day; Review of the common and less common causes of daytime sleepiness including, behavioral insufficient sleep, narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia and sleep related breathing disorders; The approach and therapeutic options for each disorder.

Restless Legs Syndrome and Other Nocturnal Events: This lecture will review the recent changes in our understanding and approach to Restless Legs Syndrome and Periodic Limb Movements of Sleep including newer treatment paradigms; In addition, the lecture will review the approach to evaluating and treating other nocturnal events.

Gastroenterology

Management of Lower GI Bleeding- From Occult to Massive: The correct use and interpretation of tests for occult blood in the stool will be discussed in relation to lower GI bleeding; focus on the utility of different diagnostic and management approached to the spectrum of patients presenting with hematochezia.

Colorectal Cancer Screening and Surveillance: Reviews the most recent recommendations for CRC screening in the general population at average risk for CRC.

Celiac Disease and Chronic Diarrhea: Millions of Americans are now on a gluten free diet; Only some of them actually have Celiac disease; We will review the workup of diarrhea and malabsorption with a focus on celiac disease; We will discuss how to diagnose celiac disease when a patient is already on a gluten free diet and an appropriate differential diagnosis.

Drug Induced Liver Injury (DILI): A primary care approach to evaluating and managing a wide range of drug-induced liver injury including hepatic inflammation, jaundice, and hepatocellular necrosis.

Addiction

Introduction to Addiction: Neurobiology, Screening, and Diagnosis: This module will introduce the disease model of addiction, its neurobiology, and some of the tools easily used in the primary care setting to identify who is at risk for addiction.

Pharmacotherapy for Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders: Role of Primary Care: This presentation will review the FDA approved medications for alcohol and opioid addiction treatment and examine the role of primary care with respect to each of them.

Chronic Pain and Addiction: Primary Care Pearls: Epidemiology of pain; risk factors and comorbidity; pain management concepts; patient factors affecting the analgesic response; the relationship between stress and chronic pain; the range of therapeutic options for management including non-pharmacologic approaches.

Gaming, Gambling & Social Media: Management of Behavioral Addiction: Behavioral addictions to gaming, gambling and social media are poorly understood and thus under-diagnosed and under-treated; They are chronic brain disorders with specific risk factors and require appropriate screening, diagnosis and evidence-based treatment.