MER Primary Care Conferences Dermatology for Primary Care Jul 31 – Aug 02, 2026

MER’s Dermatology for Primary Care program reviews the skin problems commonly seen in outpatient practice, from dermatitis and acne to infections, suspicious lesions and cutaneous signs of systemic disease. The material brings together diagnostic distinctions, treatment options and office procedures, including biopsy techniques and cryosurgery. It is intended for primary care clinicians who assess skin complaints and decide when further investigation or referral is appropriate. The original meeting ran July 31–August 2, 2026 at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Florida. The objectives and topic outline below describe the educational program; the dated agenda reference does not establish which recordings are supplied.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program, participants should be better able to:

• Differentiate between the presentations and causes of atopic, contact (irritant and allergic), and nummular dermatitis.
• Discriminate the diagnostic principles and treatment options for papulosquamous diseases with red, raised bumps.
• Discriminate between various viral skin infections and treatment strategies.
• Compare the different treatment options for fungal skin infections and nail infections.
• Perform a differential diagnosis of common bacterial skin infections and recommend appropriate treatment.
• Identify cutaneous findings that serve as surrogates of internal diseases.
• Identify clinical presentations of various parasitic skin infections including scabies, lice, ticks, and bedbugs.
• Describe the step-wise approach for the diagnosis and treatment of acne and acneiform eruptions.
• Employ proper diagnostic principles to monitor and manage patients at risk for skin cancer.
• Detect pre-cancerous and cancerous skin lesions.
• Perform comprehensive and effective treatment of melanomas and other pigmented lesions.
• Review basic skin surgeries typically conducted in the primary care office.

Benign Skin Tumors

• Proper diagnosis of common benign tumors
• Treatment of common benign tumors
• Biopsies
• Histopathologic examination
• Nevi
• Seborrheic keratoses
• Keloids
• Hemangiomas
• Miscellaneous tumors
• Determining when referral is appropriate

Benign vs. Malignant Skin Lesions

• Further examination
• Biopsy
• Histopathologic evaluation
• Dermatology consultation
• Definitive treatment

Premalignant & Malignant Skin Tumors

• Recognition of precursors of malignancy
• Excisional biopsy
• Punch biopsy
• Actinic keratosis
• Bowen’s disease
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Basal cell carcinoma
• Melanoma
• Other selected tumors
• Risk-reduction education

Skin Cancer Detection

• Identify patients at risk for skin cancer
• Monitor high-risk patients
• Detect precancerous lesions
• Detect cancerous lesions
• Evaluate pigmented lesions
• Recognize possible melanoma

Actinic Keratosis

The official agenda specifically includes actinic keratosis among premalignant skin lesions.

Bowen’s Disease

Bowen’s disease is also specifically included in the malignancy-focused session.

Basal Cell Carcinoma

The curriculum includes recognition of basal cell carcinoma, one of the malignant skin tumors primary care clinicians may encounter during routine examinations.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma is another confirmed malignancy covered in the official agenda.

Melanoma & Pigmented Lesions

• Melanomas
• Pigmented lesions

Skin Surgery for Primary Care

• Common office dermatology procedures
• Shave biopsy
• Punch biopsy
• Excisional biopsy
• Local anesthesia
• Cryosurgery
• Appropriate procedural setting
• Best-practice procedural techniques

Shave Biopsy

Shave biopsy is one of the specific techniques reviewed.

Punch Biopsy

Punch biopsy is also included among the office-based techniques covered.

Excisional Biopsy

The program includes excisional biopsy in both its procedural and skin-tumor content.

Local Anesthesia in Dermatologic Procedures

MER’s official agenda specifically includes instruction and best practices for local anesthesia as part of Skin Surgery for Primary Care.

Cryosurgery

• Cryosurgery
• Appropriate indications
• Appropriate clinical setting

Acne & Acneiform Eruptions

• Noninflammatory open comedones
• Closed comedones
• Inflammatory lesions
• Acne grading
• Treatment selection
• Bacterial folliculitis
• Drug-induced acne
• Hidradenitis suppurativa
• Miliaria
• Perioral dermatitis
• Pseudofolliculitis barbae
• Rosacea
• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Topical therapy
• Systemic therapy

Acne Diagnosis

• Lesion morphology
• Inflammatory versus noninflammatory disease
• Distribution
• Severity
• Medication exposure
• Associated dermatologic findings

Acne Grading & Treatment

The official MER agenda specifically connects acne grading with treatment selection.

Hidradenitis Suppurativa

Hidradenitis suppurativa is included among the acneiform and inflammatory conditions addressed within this session.

Rosacea

The official curriculum also includes rosacea, allowing clinicians to distinguish it from acne and other inflammatory facial eruptions.

Perioral Dermatitis

Perioral dermatitis is another confirmed acneiform condition included in the course agenda.

Papulosquamous Diseases

• Psoriasis
• Lichen planus
• Pityriasis rosea
• Lupus erythematosus

Psoriasis

Psoriasis represents one of the major papulosquamous disorders covered.

Lichen Planus

The curriculum includes lichen planus, allowing comparison with other papulosquamous eruptions.

Pityriasis Rosea

Pityriasis rosea is also included in the confirmed official agenda.

Lupus Erythematosus

Cutaneous manifestations of lupus erythematosus are included within the papulosquamous differential.

Dermatitis

• Contact dermatitis
• Atopic dermatitis
• Irritant dermatitis
• Nummular dermatitis
• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Exfoliative dermatitis
• Blistering
• Oozing
• Crusting
• Flaking
• Diagnostic principles
• Management strategies

Atopic Dermatitis

• Distribution
• Morphology
• Chronicity
• Associated atopy
• Symptoms
• Trigger patterns

Contact Dermatitis

• Irritant contact dermatitis
• Allergic contact dermatitis

Nummular Dermatitis

Nummular dermatitis is specifically included among the dermatitis patterns participants should be able to distinguish.

Seborrheic & Exfoliative Dermatitis

• Seborrheic dermatitis
• Exfoliative dermatitis

Dermatology Cases

The October 2025 agenda version includes a Dermatology Cases session.

Bacterial Infections of the Skin

• Impetigo
• Ecthyma
• Folliculitis
• Furunculosis
• Necrotizing fasciitis
• Lyme disease
• Syphilis
• Diagnosis
• Management
• Antibiotic-treatment guidelines
• Management of special populations

Impetigo

Impetigo is included as one of the common bacterial infections primary care clinicians should recognize and manage appropriately.

Folliculitis & Furunculosis

• Folliculitis
• Furunculosis

Necrotizing Fasciitis

The inclusion of necrotizing fasciitis highlights the need to recognize potentially severe skin and soft-tissue infections requiring urgent escalation.

Lyme Disease & Syphilis

Both Lyme disease and syphilis appear in the bacterial skin-infection session, emphasizing that dermatologic findings can provide important clues to systemic infectious disease.

Fungal Infections of the Skin

• Dermatophytes
• Tinea versicolor
• Candidiasis
• Selected deep fungal infections
• Fungal diagnosis
• Management
• Antifungal treatment options

Nail Disorders & Fungal Nail Infection

• Onycholysis
• Drug-induced nail changes
• Paronychia
• Koilonychia
• Nail discoloration
• Nail tumors

Antifungal Therapy

• Fungal skin infections
• Nail infections

Viral Infections of the Skin

• Herpes simplex
• Varicella-zoster
• Viral exanthems
• Molluscum contagiosum
• Warts
• Post-herpetic neuralgia
• Symptom management
• Dermatology referral

Herpes Simplex

The program reviews recognition and differentiation of herpes simplex as part of the viral skin-infection curriculum.

Varicella-Zoster

Varicella-zoster is another confirmed viral disease discussed in the course.

Molluscum & Warts

• Molluscum
• Warts

Parasitic Skin Infections

• Scabies
• Lice
• Ticks
• Bedbugs

Scabies

Recognition of scabies requires attention to characteristic symptoms, lesion distribution, exposure history, and household transmission.

Lice

The broader parasitic curriculum includes lice, another common outpatient dermatology presentation.

Ticks & Bedbugs

Tick- and bedbug-related skin findings are also included within the learning objectives for parasitic disease recognition.

Skin Manifestations of Systemic Disease

One of the supplied learning objectives is to identify cutaneous findings that serve as surrogates of internal diseases.

Dermatology & Internal Medicine

The relationship between the skin and systemic disease illustrates why dermatologic knowledge is important for internists and family physicians.

Published Agenda Reference

The summary below follows the MER agenda version dated October 8, 2025. Earlier agenda versions differ. This is a conference-program reference, not a verified inventory of delivered recordings.

• July 31: dermatitis, papulosquamous conditions, viral and bacterial skin infections, and skin findings in systemic disease.
• August 1: parasitic infections, acne, fungal skin disease, benign tumors, and precancerous or malignant lesions.
• August 2: office skin surgery and case discussions.

The original event listed 12 credit hours. Its event listing and October 2025 agenda differed on pharmacotherapeutic hours (5.00 versus 5.25). These figures describe the original activity only. This purchase does not include conference registration, MER account access or provider credit pathways.