Skin cancer remains the most diagnosed malignancy in the United States, affecting nearly one in five Americans by age 70 and continuing to cause preventable morbidity and mortality. Primary care NPs and PAs are often the first—and sometimes only—clinicians to evaluate suspicious lesions, yet rising incidence, atypical presentations, and evolving treatment options have made early detection increasingly complex. This session delivers practical, high-yield guidance on risk stratification, lesion recognition, biopsy decision-making, and referral thresholds, while reviewing advances in dermoscopy, surgical and non-surgical therapies, and prevention counseling. Attendees will gain confidence in recognizing skin cancer earlier, reducing missed diagnoses, and strengthening their role at the front line of this growing public health challenge.

Dermatology remains one of the most visually complex and fast-evolving fields in medicine. As the body’s largest organ, the skin reflects thousands of disease states—now amplified by rising skin cancer rates, inflammatory disorders, immune-mediated disease, medication reactions, and post-viral presentations. Yet many primary care providers receive limited formal dermatology training despite being the first to evaluate many skin complaints. This session provides a practical, pattern-based framework to help NPs and PAs confidently assess common rashes, lesions, and growths, recognize red flags, and apply updated diagnostic tools and treatment strategies. Emphasis is placed on real-world decision-making, newer therapies, and knowing when to treat, monitor, or refer—turning uncertainty into clarity in everyday primary care practice.

Caring for pediatric and adolescent skin conditions presents unique and evolving challenges for primary care providers. Children are not simply “small adults”—weight-based dosing, developmental physiology, limited pediatric clinical trials, frequent off-label use, and age-specific safety concerns complicate diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, rising rates of atopic disease, acne, hair and nail disorders, viral lesions, pigmentary changes, and concerning nevi demand earlier recognition and confident management. This session offers a practical, age-appropriate approach to evaluating common—and commonly frustrating—pediatric skin findings, highlighting updated diagnostic strategies, newer therapies, and clear guidance on when to reassure, treat, or refer. Designed to simplify complexity, this overview equips NPs and PAs to care for young patients with greater confidence and clarity in everyday primary care practice.

Adults aged 65 and older are the fastest-growing population in the United States, and dermatologic complaints now dominate visits across primary care, assisted living, and long-term care settings. Aging skin is uniquely vulnerable due to barrier dysfunction, immune senescence, chronic disease, immobility, incontinence, and extensive polypharmacy—leading to high rates of pruritus, xerosis, drug eruptions, stasis dermatitis, intertrigo, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and infection. This session provides a practical, evidence-based framework for evaluating and managing common geriatric skin conditions, with emphasis on prevention, safer prescribing, updated diagnostic strategies, and newer therapeutic options. Special attention is given to recognizing red flags, avoiding common treatment pitfalls, and improving comfort, dignity, and quality of life for older adults across outpatient, assisted living, and long-term care environments.

Primary care NPs and PAs routinely evaluate skin complaints—but far less often are we trained to recognize when the skin is expressing psychological distress. Psychocutaneous disorders sit at the uncomfortable intersection of dermatology and mental health, presenting as pruritus without rash, excoriations, hair loss, delusional infestation, body-focused repetitive behaviors, or chronic dermatoses driven by stress, anxiety, or mood disorders. This session provides a practical, non-psychiatric framework to help frontline providers recognize the most common psychocutaneous conditions, ask the right history questions, and identify clinical clues that distinguish primary skin disease from skin manifestations of psychological distress. Through real-world cases and straightforward paradigms and pharmacological options, attendees will gain confidence in initiating compassionate conversations, avoiding diagnostic pitfalls, implementing initial management strategies, and knowing when—and how—to refer appropriately. Designed for busy primary care practice, this talk reframes psychocutaneous disease not as an intrusion, but as an essential competency in modern skin care.

Recreational athletes aren’t just kids anymore! Your patients aren’t slowing down – and neither should your clinical skills. This 60-minute session provides a practical, evidence-based guide to evaluating, diagnosing, and managing sports-related injuries that keep older athletes and weekend warriors off the field (and in your office). From tendon strains to joint flare-ups, learn how age-related changes affect healing, which injuries can be safely managed in primary care, when to order imaging, and when to refer to orthopedics. Through case-based scenarios, you’ll gain practical strategies to keep your patients moving, minimize setbacks, and prevent repeat injuries, all while preserving independence and an active lifestyle.

Managing patients after orthopedic surgery can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. This 60-minute session provides practical, evidence-based guidance for evaluating and managing common postoperative concerns in primary care. Key topics include expected pain timelines, interpreting swelling, warmth, and joint noises, identifying true infection red flags, and knowing when laboratory tests like ESR and CRP are (or aren’t) helpful. Through case-based discussions, you’ll gain the skills to distinguish normal postoperative findings from urgent complications, reassure patients, and know when referral is warranted, all while keeping recovery on track and your sanity intact.

Your patients can’t afford to crumble and neither should your clinical approach to bone health! Osteoporosis and low bone density are common yet often underrecognized conditions that significantly impact patient health and quality of life. This 90-minute session provides a practical, evidence-based approach to bone health for primary care clinicians. Participants will learn how to assess fracture risk, interpret bone mineral density results, and implement both lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions to optimize skeletal strength. Case-based discussions will cover strategies for prevention, monitoring, and patient counseling, empowering clinicians to build a strong foundation for bone health and reduce the risk of fractures in adults across the lifespan.

It just hurts! In this 90-minute session, we’ll demystify neck and back pain with evidence-based strategies that actually work in the outpatient setting. Learn to treat the patient (and not the MRI), spot the red flags that demand urgent attention, implement early interventions that speed recovery, and distinguish the “just sore” from the “call ortho now.” Through case-based scenarios, you’ll gain practical tools to help patients move, groan less, and feel human again – all while keeping your sanity intact.

Musculoskeletal exams don’t have to feel like a pain in the neck (or anywhere else). In this 90-minute session, we’ll take a head-to-toe tour of the joints and muscles you see most in primary care, breaking down the exam into simple, practical steps that actually make sense. Forget memorizing every obscure maneuver you learned in school – you’ll focus on the ones that truly reveal important findings, spot the subtle clues that matter, and know when it’s time to worry. Through interactive, case-based examples, you’ll leave ready to perform a confident, efficient musculoskeletal exam that keeps patients moving, informed, and maybe even impressed.

The road to becoming a competent interpreter of EKGs starts with mastering the basics of electrocardiography and recognizing how to apply these basics throughout the science. You’ll relearn some of the foundational concepts that might have been glossed over when you first were taught EKGs. Then, you’ll apply them to real-life EKGs and see how having a strong grasp of these basics can solve common pain points in EKG understanding and speed up your interpretation of more complex tracings.

EKG interpretation isn’t just for clinicians who practice in hospital settings. As we know, it’s common for patients to potentially mis-triage themselves and present to office-based practices after experiencing symptoms that should probably have sent them to an emergency department. We’ll review case studies of patients who seem “fine” at the time but have critical EKG findings that suggest an emergency medical condition lurking under the surface. We’ll also discuss some case studies of patients and their EKGs that may look concerning initially but would likely not benefit from treatment in an emergency department.

When considering a patient with chest pain, it’s important to start with a broad differential diagnosis. However, a recent study suggests that there are only six life-threatening chest pain conditions. We’ll discuss the risk factors, pertinent history, and exam findings associated with each of these six chest pain killers. In addition, we’ll review three important documents from the recent literature that you probably didn’t learn about in school, and how understanding their key points is critical for the modern diagnostic evaluation of patients with chest pain.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is the most common reason for myocardial infarctions in young women. What complicates the diagnosis of this potentially lethal condition is that risk factors for SCAD are completely different than traditional myocardial infarction risk factors. We’ll use an unforgettable case study to highlight these nontraditional risk factors for myocardial infarction that you must know. Then, we’ll talk about immediate life-saving treatments and how they may differ from traditional acute coronary syndrome management. Finally, we’ll rehearse how to present this patient to a consultant using a format you can apply to quickly summarize any critical patient who needs specialty management.

The American College of Cardiology recently updated what it considers to be STEMI equivalents and ischemia equivalents. With these new guidelines, there is an emphasis on additional potentially pathologic EKG findings that suggest the need for life-saving therapies for which time is of the essence. Meanwhile, the science of electrocardiography continues to advance and further refines our ability to disposition patients appropriately. Go beyond the guidelines to hear the very latest from EKG literature on can't-miss findings and where the science is headed.

As patients receive high-quality imaging for a multitude of reasons, endocrine incidentalomas are commonly encountered. These incidentalomas should not be ignored! Endocrine incidentalomas require workup to differentiate benign and malignant findings, determine the presence of hormonal hypersecretion, or require serial monitoring. Through case-based examples, providers across specialties will gain a more thorough understanding of the “next steps” when encountering a patient with an endocrine incidentaloma.

Nearly half of adults in the United States have hypertension, and only about 25% of those individuals have their blood pressure under control. While only 5-10% of people with hypertension have secondary hypertension, proper diagnosis of secondary hypertension improves outcomes when the underlying cause is treated. However, the differential diagnosis is wide and includes several endocrine conditions. In this case-based, interactive session, we will examine the endocrine disorders within the differential diagnosis of secondary hypertension, enhancing clinicians’ ability to recognize and treat these conditions to improve patient outcomes.

Hypogonadism is a common concern that prompts patients to seek guidance from their healthcare providers, yet navigating its diagnostic nuances can be challenging. Testosterone and estrogen deficiencies manifest with a broad range of clinical symptoms, and distinguishing primary from secondary causes requires a thoughtful, evidence-based approach to identify the underlying etiology and guide appropriate treatment accurately. In this interactive, case-driven session, we will unpack the “TEa” on evaluating hypogonadism, review essential laboratory and clinical considerations, and discuss evidence-based treatment strategies for testosterone and estrogen deficiency.

Multiple daily injection (MDI) therapy remains a foundational approach in diabetes management, yet optimizing insulin dosing and adjusting regimens to meet patients’ evolving needs can be challenging. Effective use of basal and bolus insulin requires an understanding of pharmacokinetics, individualized titration strategies, and careful interpretation of glucose data. Advances in technology, particularly continuous glucose monitoring, now provide clinicians with real-time insights that can refine dosing decisions and improve safety. Through case-based sessions, we will review evidence-based approaches to insulin dosing and adjustment and discuss how to leverage technology to enhance outcomes for individuals using MDI therapy.

Individualized care is a foundational principle of contemporary diabetes management, yet translating guideline-based recommendations into practice requires careful integration of each patient’s clinical status, comorbidities, social determinants of health, and personal preferences. Comorbidities, functional status, social determinants of health, and patient preferences all influence treatment goals, therapeutic selection, and the feasibility of lifestyle interventions. Through practical examples illustrating the diverse needs encountered in diabetes care, we will examine methods for individualizing management to optimize outcomes for patients living with diabetes.