MER Primary Care Conferences Neurology for Primary Care Aug 21-23, 2026

Neurological symptoms often reach primary care before a specialist consultation. This MER course reviews how to assess common presentations, distinguish important differentials, and consider management options in the outpatient setting. The program begins with neurological examination and seizure disorders, then covers dementia, Parkinson’s disease, weakness, back pain, sleep disorders, and neuropathic pain. Cerebrovascular disease, headache, and dizziness complete the review. Its learning objectives emphasize history-taking, examination, medication considerations, and prevention, making the material relevant to primary care physicians and other clinicians who regularly assess neurological complaints. The full topic descriptions and named faculty are retained below.

Conference: Medical Education Resources (MER), August 21–23, 2026, at Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, Virginia. The course is presented in English.

Recording scope: The topics below describe the conference curriculum; they do not establish that every agenda session is included in the supplied recordings. Original accreditation applied to eligible participation in the MER activity and its required processes. This file package does not include MER registration, credit-claiming access, or an official MER certificate.

Learning Objectives

• Perform a neurological exam.
• Explain the differential diagnosis of seizures.
• Compare the side effect and clinical pharmacology profiles of anti-epileptic drugs.
• Discuss the spectrum of sleep disorders and current management strategies.
• Discuss evidence-based management options for Alzheimer’s disease.
• Evaluate weakness and recognize cardinal features of Parkinson’s disease as well as other movement disorders.
• Utilize history and physical examination to distinguish weakness from non-specific symptoms.
• Evaluate and treat low back pain.
• Discuss the mechanism of neuropathic pain.
• Utilize prevention and treatment strategies for cerebrovascular disorders.
• Describe the differential diagnosis and treatment options for migraine headaches.
• Recognize diseases that present with a complaint of dizziness.

Faculty

• Paul W. Brazis, MD
• Bradley V. Vaughn, MD
• Joanne M. Wojcieszek, MD

Topics

• The Neurological Exam: Characteristics and objectives of the examination; exam phases; assessing general mental status; long-term predications; examination of infants; demonstration on conducting an exam.

• Diagnosis of Epilepsy, Paroxysmal Disorders, and Status Epilepticus: Types of paroxysmal disorders; diagnosis of seizures; seizures vs. epilepsy; classification of seizures and epileptic syndrome; initiation and discontinuation of drug therapy; therapeutic monitoring; intractable epilepsy.

• Treatment of Epilepsy and Status Epilepticus: Treatment of epilepsies; goals of treatment; initiation and discontinuation of drug therapy; therapeutic monitoring; intractable epilepsy.

• Alzheimer’s & Other Dementias: Definition; statistics; neurological changes of normal aging; pathology; etiological theories; vascular dementias; investigations; social issues; symptomatic treatment; research therapies.

• Parkinson’s Disease & Other Movement Disorders: Epidemiology; cardinal features; secondary features; pathology; neurochemistry; differential diagnosis; treatment; complication; other movement disorders; neuroleptic- induced movement disorders; chorea.

• Evaluating Weakness: Using the history and physical examination to distinguish weakness from non-specific symptoms; characteristics of neurological diseases that produce weakness; presentations of representative diseases of the nervous system.

• Evaluating the Patient with Lower Back Pain: Magnitude of the problem; anatomy; classification of pain; key elements of history and the clinical exam.

• Sleep Disorders: Epidemiology; assessing sleep patterns; causes and treatment of insomnia; causes, evaluation and treatment of sleep apnea; symptoms and treatment of narcolepsy.

• Neuropathy and Neuropathic Pain: Discussion of the spectrum of neuropathic signs, symptoms and causes; the approach to bedside examination; discussion of the mechanism of neuropathic pain; effective therapies.

• Cerebrovascular Disorders: Epidemiology; identifying the high-risk patient; treatment effects; transient neurological deficit: carotid, vertebrobasilar; non-specific cerebral symptoms; migraines vs. TIA; treatment options.

• Headaches & Migraines: Basic headache mechanisms; headache history: characteristics, precipitating factors, medical conditions; migraine: common tension, classic, treatment, complicated, cluster, sinus; trigeminal neuralgia; Giant Cell Arteritis; brain tumor; subarachnoid hemorrhage; emergency room treatment.

• Dizziness & Vertigo: Definition of terms; concepts; physiologic mechanisms; medical, neurological and laboratory evaluation of the patient; diseases that present with a complaint of dizziness; acute paroxysmal vertigo; acute positional vertigo; Meniere’s disease; acoustic neuroma; cerebellar hemorrhage, etc.