MER Primary Care Conferences: Internal Medicine for Primary Care – Infectious Diseases / Palliative Care / Pulmonology 2026

Comprehensive Updates in Infectious Diseases, Palliative Care & Pulmonology

The Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Infectious Diseases/Palliative Care/Pulmonology conference is an educational program organized by Medical Education Resources (MER), a non-profit organization dedicated to continuing medical education.

The conference is scheduled for July 10–12, 2026, at the Harborside Hotel, Spa, & Marina in Bar Harbor, Maine.

Course Details

• Course: Internal Medicine for Primary Care: Infectious Diseases/Palliative Care/Pulmonology
• Date: July 10–12, 2026
• Location: Harborside Hotel, Spa, & Marina, Bar Harbor, ME
• Provider: Medical Education Resources (MER)
• Specialties: Internal Medicine, Primary Care, Infectious Diseases, Palliative Care & Pulmonology

Course Overview

This primary care CME program provides practical updates across infectious diseases, palliative medicine, and pulmonology, focusing on common and clinically important conditions encountered in primary care.

The program covers evidence-based approaches to respiratory diseases, infections, antimicrobial stewardship, hospice and palliative care, symptom management, prognosis, and goals-of-care discussions.

Pulmonology

Key respiratory topics include:

• Asthma diagnosis and management
• Common respiratory infections
• Evidence-based treatment strategies
• COPD management
• Lung nodules
• Lung cancer screening and treatment approaches

Palliative Care & Hospice Medicine

The program provides practical guidance on caring for patients with serious and life-limiting illnesses, including:

• Medicare hospice benefits
• Primary care approaches to palliative medicine
• Symptom management
• Prognosis and clinical decision-making
• Establishing goals of care
• Communication with patients and families

Infectious Diseases

Important infectious disease topics include:

• Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI)
• Diarrheal illnesses
• Emerging infectious diseases
• Vaccine-preventable disease resurgence
• Zoonotic diseases
• Animal-associated infections
• Antimicrobial stewardship
• Appropriate antimicrobial treatment strategies

Learning Objectives

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

• Diagnose and manage patients with asthma.
• Design treatment strategies based on current evidence for common respiratory infections.
• Describe current therapeutic management of COPD.
• Discuss diagnostic and screening strategies and treatment plans for lung nodules and lung cancer.
• Describe important details regarding the Medicare hospice benefit.
• Describe the primary care approach to palliative medicine, including symptom management.
• Recognize the importance of prognosis in decision-making for seriously ill patients.
• Define and establish goals of care with patients and their families.
• Review the epidemiology and microbiology of skin and soft tissue infections.
• Evaluate the severity of diarrhea and determine the need for treatment.
• Discuss emerging infectious diseases, including the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, zoonoses, and diseases associated with animal exposure.
• Identify the goals of antimicrobial stewardship programs and strategies for antimicrobial treatment.

Target Audience

This educational program is targeted toward office-based primary care providers and other healthcare professionals seeking updates in primary care medicine.

Best For

• Primary Care Physicians
• Pulmonologists
• Palliative Care Specialists
• Infectious Disease Specialists

Major Topics Covered

Pulmonology

• Asthma
• COPD
• Respiratory Infections
• Lung Nodules
• Lung Cancer

Palliative Care

• Hospice Medicine
• Medicare Hospice Benefit
• Symptom Management
• Prognosis
• Goals of Care
• Serious Illness Care

Infectious Diseases

• Skin & Soft Tissue Infections
• Diarrheal Diseases
• Emerging Infections
• Zoonoses
• Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
• Antimicrobial Stewardship

Topics

• 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.

• Palliative – Medicare Hospice Benefit: Which patients are eligible? What is palliative care? What does the Medicare benefit provide for patients and families?.

• Palliative – Palliative Care for the PCP: Symptom Management: Symptom management; Symptom management of dyspnea and cough, pain, nausea and vomiting, constipation, and agitation, at the end of life.

• Palliative – Prognostication for the PCP: Estimating life expectancy for patients with life-limiting illnesses such as CHF, Alzheimer’s dementia, Parkinson’s disease, end stage renal disease.

• Palliative – Addressing Goals of Care: Definition of POA, DNR, DNI, DNH, MOLST, POLST; Techniques on how to address goals of care, both in acute crisis as well as when the patient has chronic issues.

• Pulmonology – 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.

• Infectious Diseases – Skin & Soft Tissue Infections: Presentation on important skin and soft-tissue infections and their prompt recognition, emphasizing evaluation and management strategies.

• Infectious Diseases – Gastrointestinal Infections & Clostridiodes Difficile: Presentation on important enteric pathogens and their recognition, diagnosis and management; special emphasis on clostridiodes difficile colitis and related updates from the ID and infection control literature.

• Infectious Diseases – Emerging Infectious Diseases: Novel influenza viruses, resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases, zoonoses and disease related to animal exposures (including vectors such as mosquitoes that bear west Nile virus and dengue), bioterrorism and food/waterborne illness.

• Infectious Diseases – Antimicrobial Stewardship and Multidrug Resistance: Definition of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP); Concepts of the antimicrobial stewardship program; Four goals of antimicrobial stewardship; Most recent additions to the antimicrobial armamentarium.