MER Primary Care Conferences: Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026 (Videos)

Comprehensive Primary Care Updates in Cardiology, Pulmonology, Coronary Artery Disease, Hypertension, Heart Failure, COPD, Asthma, Lung Cancer, and Evidence-Based Outpatient Medicine

Stay current with the latest evidence-based recommendations in cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine with MER Primary Care Conferences: Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026, a comprehensive continuing medical education (CME) program developed by Medical Education Resources (MER). Designed specifically for office-based primary care providers and healthcare professionals, this practical conference delivers current clinical guidelines, diagnostic strategies, and treatment updates for the cardiovascular and respiratory conditions most frequently encountered in everyday practice.

Held April 17–19, 2026, at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, Arizona, this interactive educational program combines expert-led lectures, guideline updates, and case-based discussions to help clinicians confidently diagnose, evaluate, and manage common cardiac and pulmonary disorders. Participants gain practical knowledge that can be immediately incorporated into outpatient practice while improving patient outcomes through evidence-based decision-making.

From coronary artery disease (CAD), hypertension, heart failure, lipid management, and electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG) interpretation to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), respiratory infections, pulmonary nodules, and lung cancer screening, this course provides a balanced review of the most important advances in primary care cardiology and pulmonology.

Product Details

• Course: Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026
• Provider: Medical Education Resources (MER)
• Conference Dates: April 17–19, 2026
• Location: Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, Tucson, Arizona, USA
• Format: Videos
• Language: English
• Educational Level: Intermediate

Course Overview

Cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disorders remain among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Primary care clinicians play a critical role in early detection, risk assessment, preventive care, evidence-based treatment, and long-term management of these conditions.

MER Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026 provides a clinically focused review of modern outpatient management using current practice guidelines and real-world patient cases. The curriculum emphasizes practical diagnostic algorithms, risk stratification, medication optimization, lifestyle interventions, preventive strategies, and shared clinical decision-making.

Faculty review recent guideline updates, discuss challenging clinical scenarios, and provide practical recommendations that help clinicians deliver high-quality, patient-centered care across a wide spectrum of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases.

What You’ll Learn

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Evaluate patients with suspected coronary artery disease using evidence-based diagnostic strategies.
• Interpret electrocardiograms (ECGs/EKGs) with greater confidence.
• Apply current hypertension guidelines to improve blood pressure management.
• Optimize treatment of heart failure using guideline-directed medical therapy.
• Diagnose and manage asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Implement evidence-based treatment strategies for common respiratory infections.
• Screen, evaluate, and manage pulmonary nodules and lung cancer.
• Develop individualized treatment plans through interactive case-based learning.

Comprehensive Topics Covered

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

Develop practical approaches to evaluating and managing patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Topics include:

• CAD risk assessment
• Chest pain evaluation
• Diagnostic testing
• Stress testing
• Coronary imaging
• Prevention strategies
• Guideline-directed therapy

Faculty review contemporary recommendations for identifying patients at risk and selecting appropriate diagnostic investigations.

Electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)

Improve confidence in interpreting common electrocardiographic findings.

Topics include:

• ECG interpretation
• Cardiac rhythm analysis
• Ischemic changes
• Conduction abnormalities
• Arrhythmias
• Clinical decision-making

Hypertension

Review current evidence-based management of hypertension in primary care.

Topics include:

• Blood pressure diagnosis
• Risk stratification
• Pharmacologic therapy
• Lifestyle modification
• Resistant hypertension
• Updated hypertension guidelines

Heart Failure

Strengthen your understanding of modern heart failure management.

Topics include:

• Heart failure diagnosis
• Guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT)
• Reduced and preserved ejection fraction
• Medication optimization
• Outpatient management
• Prevention of hospitalizations

Lipid Management & Cardiovascular Prevention

Learn contemporary approaches to reducing cardiovascular risk.

Topics include:

• Dyslipidemia
• Cholesterol guidelines
• Statin therapy
• ASCVD prevention
• Lifestyle interventions
• Cardiovascular risk reduction

Asthma

Review practical strategies for diagnosing and managing asthma across diverse patient populations.

Topics include:

• Asthma diagnosis
• Controller medications
• Inhaler therapy
• Acute exacerbations
• Stepwise treatment
• Long-term monitoring

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Explore current recommendations for COPD diagnosis and treatment.

Topics include:

• COPD diagnosis
• Pulmonary function testing
• Pharmacologic therapy
• Inhaled medications
• Exacerbation prevention
• Pulmonary rehabilitation

Respiratory Infections

Update your knowledge of common respiratory illnesses encountered in outpatient practice.

Topics include:

• Community-acquired pneumonia
• Acute bronchitis
• Upper respiratory infections
• Antibiotic stewardship
• Evidence-based treatment
• Differential diagnosis

Pulmonary Nodules & Lung Cancer

Enhance early recognition and management of pulmonary malignancy.

Topics include:

• Lung nodule evaluation
• Lung cancer screening
• Low-dose CT
• Diagnostic algorithms
• Risk assessment
• Referral strategies

Case-Based Primary Care

Apply guideline recommendations using realistic clinical scenarios.

Topics include:

• Cardiovascular cases
• Pulmonary cases
• Diagnostic reasoning
• Evidence-based management
• Shared decision-making
• Outpatient treatment planning

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe the work-up, risk assessment, and diagnostic testing of patients with suspected coronary artery disease.
• Interpret electrocardiograms using evidence-based clinical principles.
• Apply current hypertension treatment recommendations in primary care.
• Develop individualized management plans for cardiovascular disease through case-based learning.
• Diagnose and manage asthma, COPD, and common respiratory infections.
• Evaluate pulmonary nodules and implement appropriate lung cancer screening strategies.
• Apply guideline-directed therapies for acute chest pain and heart failure.
• Incorporate current lipid management recommendations into cardiovascular disease prevention.

Educational Highlights

• Primary Care Cardiology
• Primary Care Pulmonology
• Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)
• Chest Pain Evaluation
• Electrocardiography (ECG/EKG)
• Hypertension
• Heart Failure
• Lipid Management
• Cholesterol Guidelines
• Asthma
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Respiratory Infections
• Lung Nodules
• Lung Cancer Screening
• Preventive Cardiology
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Outpatient Medicine
• Case-Based Learning
• Clinical Guidelines
• Continuing Medical Education (CME)

Why This Course Stands Out

MER Primary Care Conferences: Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026 offers a practical, guideline-driven review of two of the most important disciplines in outpatient medicine. Rather than focusing on highly specialized topics, the course emphasizes common cardiovascular and respiratory conditions encountered daily in primary care, delivering clinically relevant recommendations that improve diagnostic accuracy, optimize treatment decisions, and enhance preventive care. The combination of expert faculty, interactive case discussions, and evidence-based guideline updates makes this program an invaluable educational resource for frontline healthcare providers.

Target Audience

This educational activity is ideal for:

• Primary Care Physicians
• Family Medicine Physicians
• Internal Medicine Physicians
• Cardiologists
• Pulmonologists
• Nurse Practitioners
• Physician Assistants
• Hospitalists
• Urgent Care Physicians
• Residents and Fellows
• Nurses and Allied Healthcare Professionals involved in outpatient medicine

Why Choose This Course?

Whether you practice family medicine, internal medicine, cardiology, pulmonology, or outpatient primary care, MER Cardiology & Pulmonology for Primary Care 2026 provides an outstanding evidence-based review of contemporary cardiovascular and respiratory medicine. Featuring expert faculty, practical case-based discussions, current clinical guidelines, and immediately applicable treatment strategies, this course equips clinicians with the knowledge needed to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care for common heart and lung diseases.

4. Topics

Cardiology

• Work-up of Patients with Suspected CAD: Risk factor evaluation and risk assessment models; 2021 ACC/AHA Chest Pain Guidelines; Test selection including ECG, echo, nuclear and newer imaging modalities (including discussion of appropriate use criteria–AUC); The usefulness of CT scanning; The role of bio markers and EBCT; Suspected CAD in special populations (women, diabetics, the elderly).

• EKG and Clinical Correlation for Primary Care: A refresher of the clinical usefulness of EKG including discussion of challenging EKG readings.

• Hypertension: The 2025 AHA/ACC Hypertension Guidelines; The 2024 ESC Guidelines for hypertension; Approaches to treatment thresholds and goals; Choices for initial and combination therapy; Resistant hypertension; Treating special populations: diabetics, the elderly, patients with renal failure; Risk factors by new pooled equations.

• Cardiology Cases: Challenging case presentations in cardiology.

• Acute Coronary Syndromes: The Patient with Acute Chest Pain: Diagnosis and initial evaluation in the primary care setting, urgent care clinic and emergency department; Initial workup, treatment, and follow-up; Diagnosing and treating ST segment elevation and non-ST segment elevation MIs; The role of drug therapy–primary vs adjunctive to PCI; Follow up after acute coronary syndromome.

• Heart Failure: Etiologies and stages of heart failure; ACC/AHA Heart Failure Guidelines; Heart failure with reduced EF (HFrEF) and heart failure with preserved EF (HFpEF); Determining patients for referral using biomarkers, eg NT Pro BNP; Treatment options: ACE inhibitors, ARBs, ARNI, beta blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, SGLT2i; The role of devices in treatment and antiplatelet drugs; Issues related to the hospitalized patient with acute decompensated heart failure and readmissions.

• Primary Prevention of Cardiometabolic CVD: Definitions; AHA/ACC and other lipid guidelines updates; HDL Cholesterol: The good cholesterol?; Metabolic syndrome and/or obesity; Who needs treatment and how much; The role of lifestyle changes, exercise and cardiac rehabilitation; Drug therapy updates; Risk calculation; Role of pooled equations for risk estimates.

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.