MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care ID Palliative Pulm Jul 10-12, 2026

The Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Infectious Diseases/Palliative Care/Pulmonology conference is an educational event organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization. This primary care conference is scheduled for July 10-12, 2026, and will be held at the Harborside Hotel, Spa, & Marina in Bar Harbor, ME.
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.

List details about the Medicare hospice benefit.

Describe the primary care approach to palliative medicine including symptom management.

Recognize the importance of prognosis in decision making for seriously ill patients.

Define and establish goals of care with patients and their families.

Review epidemiology and microbiology of skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI).

Evaluate the severity of diarrhea and evaluate the need for treatment.

Discuss emerging infectious diseases including resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, zoonoses, and diseases related to animal exposures.

List goals of an antimicrobial stewardship program and strategies for antimicrobial treatment.

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, Pulmonologists, Palliative Care Specialists, and Infectious Disease Specialists.

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.

Pulmonology – 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.

Pulmonology – 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.

Palliative – Medicare Hospice Benefit: Which patients are eligible? What is palliative care? What does the Medicare benefit provide for patients and families?.

Palliative – Palliative Care for the PCP: Symptom Management: Symptom management; Symptom management of dyspnea and cough, pain, nausea and vomiting, constipation, and agitation, at the end of life.

Palliative – Prognostication for the PCP: Estimating life expectancy for patients with life-limiting illnesses such as CHF, Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, end stage renal disease.

Palliative – Addressing Goals of Care: Definition of POA, DNR, DNI, DNH, MOLST, POLST; Techniques on how to address goals of care, both in acute crisis as well as when the patient has chronic issues.

Pulmonology – 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.

Infectious Diseases – Skin & Soft Tissue Infections: Presentation on important skin and soft-tissue infections and their prompt recognition, emphasizing evaluation and management strategies.

Infectious Diseases – Gastrointestinal Infections & Clostridiodes Difficile: Presentation on important enteric pathogens and their recognition, diagnosis and management; special emphasis on clostridiodes difficile colitis and related updates from the ID and infection control literature.

Infectious Diseases – Emerging Infectious Diseases: Novel influenza viruses, resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, zoonoses and disease related to animal exposures (including vectors such as mosquitoes that bear west Nile virus and dengue), bioterrorism and food/waterborne illness.

Infectious Diseases – Antimicrobial Stewardship and Multidrug Resistance: Definition of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP); Concepts of the antimicrobial stewardship program; Four goals of antimicrobial stewardship; Most recent additions to the antimicrobial armamentarium.