MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Pulm Rheum Sep 25-27, 2026

MER Addiction Pulmonology Rheumatology 2026 brings together three primary care subject areas from the September 25–27 meeting. This listing is for digital study materials, not MER registration, CME credit or MATE Act certification.

MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Pulm Rheum Sep 25-27, 2026 is a focused continuing medical education program designed to provide primary care clinicians with current, evidence-based approaches to addiction medicine, pulmonary disease, rheumatologic conditions, and chronic pain management.

Organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), the conference combines clinically focused lectures with practical case-based education to help healthcare professionals translate current evidence and treatment recommendations into everyday primary care practice.

Course Details

Course: MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Pulm Rheum Sep 25-27, 2026
Program: Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Addiction/Pulmonology/Rheumatology
Dates: September 25–27, 2026
Organizer: Medical Education Resources (MER)
Location: The Equinox Golf Resort & Spa, Manchester, Vermont
Focus: Internal Medicine, Primary Care, Addiction Medicine, Pulmonology, Rheumatology, and Chronic Pain Management

Target Audience

This educational program is designed primarily for office-based primary care providers and other healthcare professionals seeking clinically relevant updates in primary care medicine.

It is particularly relevant for:

• Internists
• Family Medicine Physicians
• Primary Care Physicians
• Pulmonologists
• Rheumatologists
• Addiction Medicine Specialists
• Pain Medicine Specialists
• Other healthcare professionals involved in outpatient patient management

Program Overview

MER confirms the meeting identity, dates and location. The detailed topics retained below reflect the existing store description; the dynamic publisher agenda was unavailable for independent comparison. File formats, counts and completeness should be confirmed before purchase.

Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Addiction/Pulmonology/Rheumatology provides practical education across three important clinical areas frequently encountered in primary care practice.

The program focuses on evidence-based diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases, rheumatologic disorders, substance use disorders, and chronic pain-related addiction.

Through structured lectures and pragmatic case reviews, attendees will examine current approaches to:

• Asthma management
• Common respiratory infections
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Lung nodules and lung cancer
• Inflammatory arthritis
• Osteoarthritis
• Gout and pseudogout
• Arthritis pharmacotherapy
• Addiction neurobiology
• Substance use disorders
• Pharmacologic addiction treatment
• Chronic pain and addiction

The conference is designed to strengthen clinical decision-making and provide practical strategies that can be incorporated into everyday outpatient practice.

Pulmonology and Respiratory Disease Management

Pulmonary disorders account for a substantial portion of primary care visits and frequently require long-term monitoring and treatment.

This conference reviews clinically important pulmonary conditions and provides evidence-based strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up.

Areas of focus include:

• Asthma
• Respiratory infections
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Lung nodules
• Lung cancer screening and diagnosis

Participants will examine how current evidence and clinical recommendations can be applied to common respiratory presentations.

Rheumatology and Arthritis

Rheumatologic and musculoskeletal complaints are commonly encountered in primary care.

The rheumatology component focuses on differentiating major forms of arthritis and selecting evidence-based treatment strategies.

Clinical topics include:

• Inflammatory arthritis
• Osteoarthritis
• Gout
• Pseudogout
• Arthritis pharmacotherapy
• Clinical and laboratory evaluation

Participants will strengthen their ability to differentiate inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthritic disorders based on clinical presentation and laboratory findings.

Addiction Medicine

Addiction medicine represents an increasingly important component of primary care.

The conference provides foundational and practical education addressing the neurobiology of addiction and the clinical effects of commonly misused substances.

Topics include:

• Neurobiology of addiction
• Hallucinogens
• Stimulants
• Inhalants
• Sedatives
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Pharmacologic addiction treatment
• Chronic pain and addiction

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.
• Review the risks and benefits of the treatment options for arthritis, including non-selective NSAIDs, COX-2 inhibitors, DMARDs, narcotics, and tramadol.
• Describe the differential diagnoses of inflammatory arthritis based on clinical presentation and laboratory workup.
• Utilize current evidence to design treatment strategies for osteoarthritis.
• Diagnose and treat gout and pseudogout.
• Describe the neurobiology of addiction.
• Review the effects of addictive drugs, including hallucinogens, stimulants, inhalants, sedatives, tobacco, and alcohol.
• List FDA-approved medications for addiction treatment and examine the role of each.
• Discuss options for patients with chronic pain addictions.

Why This Course Is Relevant

Primary care clinicians frequently encounter patients with respiratory disease, musculoskeletal disorders, substance use problems, and chronic pain.

Effective management requires clinicians to combine diagnostic reasoning with current evidence regarding pharmacologic therapy, disease monitoring, screening, and long-term patient care.

MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Addiction Pulm Rheum Sep 25-27, 2026 brings these clinical areas together in one focused program, providing practical updates relevant to everyday internal medicine and primary care practice.

The combination of pulmonology, rheumatology, addiction medicine, and pain management makes this course particularly useful for clinicians who manage complex patients with overlapping medical and behavioral health needs.

Store-Listed Topics

This is not a verified checklist of delivered files. Publisher accounts, live participation and accreditation benefits are not included.

• Friday, September 25, 2026

  • 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)

  • Rheumatology: Update in Pharmacology for Arthritis (Review risks and benefits of traditional NSAIDs and COX-2 inhibitors; analgesics [narcotics and tramadol], acetaminophen, conventional-synthetic DMARDs, and bDMARDs)

  • 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)

• Saturday, September 26, 2026

  • Rheumatology: Osteoarthritis (Pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment)

  • Rheumatology: Crystal Disease: Gout & Pseudogout (Properly diagnosing and treating crystal diseases such as gout and pseudogout)

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

  • Addiction: Addiction 101 (The disease model of addiction and its underlying neurobiology; screening for unhealthy use of substances and diagnosis of use disorders; non-pharmacologic interventions for use disorders)

  • Addiction: Certain Substances (The concept of addiction liability; a survey of the various classes of addictive substances; clinical pearls of urine drug testing)

• Sunday, September 27, 2026

  • Addiction: Pharmacotherapy (A survey of medications used to treat various substance use disorders with a focus on nicotine replacement, bupropion, varenicline, disulfiram, naltrexone, acamprosate, methadone, and buprenorphine)

  • Addiction: Chronic Pain and Addictions (Treatment of pain in the context of opioid use disorder; the impact of alcohol and sedatives on acute and chronic pain)

Publisher reference: MER original meeting details.