MER Primary Care Conferences May Internal Medicine for Primary Care Derm Pulm Psych May 22-24, 2026

1. Overview
This is a primary care medical conference organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization. The conference is titled “Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Dermatology/Pulmonology/Psychiatry”. It will be held from May 22-24, 2026, at The Saratoga Hilton in Saratoga Springs, NY.
2. Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

Identify cutaneous findings that serve as surrogates of internal diseases.

Compare the different treatment options for fungal skin infections and nail infections.

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

Detect pre-cancerous and cancerous skin lesions.

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.

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

Discuss mood stabilizing psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments of bipolar disorder as well as frequent co-morbid psychiatric disorders.

Describe strategies for identifying and treating substance use disorders.

Assess patients at risk for suicide and violence and intervene to make timely referrals to combat hopelessness.

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, dermatologists, pulmonologists, and psychiatrists.

4. Topics
Friday, May 22, 2026

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 rheumatologic, endocrine, gastrointestinal, and psychologic conditions based on cutaneous findings.

Dermatology – Fungal Infections of the Skin: Dermatophytes, tinea versicolor, candidiasis; Selected deep fungal infections; Onycholysis; Drug induced nail changes; paronychia, koilonychia, nail discolorations, tumors of the nail; Fungal infections diagnosis and management; Overview and comparison of antifungal treatment options.

Dermatology – 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.

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.

Saturday, May 23, 2026

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.

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.

Dermatology – 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.

Psychiatry – The Complexity of Adult ADHD: ADHD in adults with an emphasis on symptom identification; Co-occurring conditions; Psychiatric and medical differential diagnosis; evidence-based and FDA approved pharmacological treatments.

Psychiatry – Bipolar Spectrum Disorders: Bipolar spectrum disorders in adults as compared to youth; Comprehensive history-taking; Differential diagnosis; Co-occurring psychiatric and medical conditions; Phase specific treatment considerations and interventions.

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Psychiatry – Substance Use Disorders: Substance abuse history-taking to encourage patient honesty; Accurate diagnosis; Use of screening tools; Brief intervention; Recovery and treatment options; Motivational interviewing; Family symptoms and codependency.

Psychiatry – Suicide and Violence: Risk assessment for suicide and violence; the relationship between psychotropic medications and suicide or violent behavior; management of the suicidal and violent patient.