MER Primary Care Conferences Internal Medicine for Primary Care Cardio Geri Pain Sep 04-06, 2026

Cardiovascular care, geriatric medicine and pain assessment come together in this MER primary care review. The September 4–6, 2026 program at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Glacier National Park, Montana covers cardiovascular prevention, suspected coronary disease, heart failure and arrhythmias, alongside urinary symptoms, dementia and hypertension in older adults. Pain sessions examine nociceptive and neuropathic mechanisms, complex regional pain syndrome, multisystem disease and implantable neuromodulation. The material is intended for office-based clinicians who manage overlapping conditions and need to consider treatment choices and referral. The original learning objectives and detailed topics follow in their existing sequence.

Package scope: The topic list describes the original educational program; the supplied recording inventory and completeness are unverified. MER registration, live participation, publisher accounts and accreditation benefits are not included.

Learning Objectives

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

• Implement lifestyle changes as well as lipid and cholesterol guidelines for the prevention of CAD.
• Describe the work-up, risk assessment and test selection of patients with suspected CAD.
• Implement treatment strategies reflective of recent guidelines and current evidence based medicine for heart failure.
• Describe current diagnostic and treatment approaches to arrhythmias and atrial fibrilation.
• Review common lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) that may progress to urinary incontinence, and initiate treatment options.
• Review behavioral and medication interventions for dementia and Alzheimer Disease.
• Evaluate hypertension in both younger and older adults, differentiate risks and goals of treatment, and recommend appropriate interventions.
• Utilize discussion and case-based learning to further incorporate treatment options for hypertension into practice.
• Differentiate treatment options for nociceptive and neuropathic pain.
• Discuss strategies to diagnose and treat complex regional pain syndrome.
• Recognize and treat multi system disease in the primary care setting.
• Describe neurostimulation options for treating chronic pain.

Topics

• 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.

• 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).

• 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 (ICD and/or CRT) in treatment and antiplatelet drugs; Issues related to the hospitalized patient with acute decompensated heart failure and readmissions.

• Urological Disorders in the Older Adult: Review common lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in older adults that may progress to incontinence; Practical approaches to differential diagnoses and management of Stress Incontinence, Overflow Incontinence, and Overactive Bladder (OAB), leading to Urge Incontinence.

• Dementia: A Critical Review of Treatment and Prevention: An evidence-based review of how to prevent and treat dementia, with a focus on the risks and benefits of new treatments for Alzheimer Disease; How to support patients who are considering new treatments.

• Controversies in the Management of Hypertension in Older Adults: Best evidence for treatment goals for hypertension in diabetics and those with previous stroke; Controversial evidence for the various guidelines for diagnosing and treating hypertension in older adults; Best evidence-based medications for hypertension.

• Hypertension Discussion and Q&A: Interactive review of the principles of hypertension diagnosis and treatment in older adults, and audience questions further clarifying the topic.

• Arrhythmias: Types and symptoms of arrhythmias; Approach to the patient: when to treat, when to refer, when to admit; Evaluation of the patient with palpitations; Atrial fibrilation: the use of anticoagulants indications, CVA risk scores, warfarin vs newer oral anticoagulants, controlling heart rate vs rhythm; Ventricular and other arrhythmias: when are they serious.

• Good Pain and Bad Pain: Nociceptive vs neuropathic pain; How a clinician can tell the difference and strategies to implement to treat them differently.

• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Diagnostic and treatment tools for treating this often misdiagnosed and devastating pain condition.

• Multi System Disease: Sometimes pain is just the tip of the iceberg; Strategies for making an accurate clinical diagnosis and formulating a successful treatment plan when symptoms don’t fit neatly into the box.

• Implantable Neuromodulation: An introduction to stimulators and intrathecal pumps; Mechanism of action and when are they indicated.