There is a well-recognized need to improve communication about end of life care between medical providers and patients. Advance care planning involves clarifying patients’ illness understanding and understanding their values, beliefs, and goals of care to ensure care at the end of life honors these goals. Unfortunately, simply increasing completion rate of advance directives does not impact care at the end of life. Strategies for successful advance care planning in primary care clinic will be discussed in this talk. Specifically, the talk will outline a framework for discussing care planning for healthy, chronically ill, and terminally ill patients.

With advances in surgical and anesthesia techniques, peri-operative mortality has markedly decreased. Presently cardiac complications are the most common cause of death. Clinical criteria and complexity of planned surgery predict the risk for adverse cardiac events. Only select patients require further evaluation such as stress testing for risk stratification. Coronary revascularization prior to surgery has not been shown to reduce the risk of cardiac events. Beta adrenergic blockers are beneficial when used with proper precautions. Management of anti-platelet and anticoagulant therapies during the peri-operative period will be described.

The session will overview the challenge and impact of burnout, explore factors that threaten individual and organizational wellness, and discuss evidence-based strategies for leading change at the personal and the systems level. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on personal health priorities while strengthening their commitment to a culture of wellness. They will discuss the process of change and critically analyze and choose areas for personal improvement beginning with a needs assessment and ending with an actionable health improvement plan. Participants will receive time, tools and strategies to succeed personally and to partner with colleagues to create greater impact.

The speaker will describe the most common foot pathology and offer appropriate treatments. Learners will observe the differential diagnosis for many of the foot problems and walk away with clinical pearls.

The role of the primary care clinician is crucial in defining the quality of care and life a patient experiences in the final months and year. Caring for patients longitudinally is core to the principles of primary care. Even nearing the end, there is always more we can do, and navigating and supporting patients in crafting what optimal care looks like for them in key to the alleviation and prevention of suffering and enhancement of quality of life as disease progress. In this talk we will explore practical clinical, communication, and operations skills to integrate of palliative care principles into primary care, at all stages of a serious illness.

Primary care health providers play an important role in getting patients to adopt healthy behaviors and make positive lifestyle changes. Learn to apply patient-centric communication strategies such as open-ended questioning, affirmations and reflective listening to get patients to initiate changes.

Many patients seen in primary care settings have experienced gender-based violence, such as intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. National guidelines recommend screening women of reproductive age for intimate partner violence, yet health professionals often find it challenging to identify and then address the healthcare needs of violence survivors. This case-based discussion will describe the prevalence and health consequences of gender-based violence. You will learn best practice strategies for providing trauma-informed care in your own clinical practice.

In this informative session, the speaker will help clinicians build better understandings with their patients and discuss how to make the office a more welcoming environment. Participants will walk away with culturally-informed and -sensitive approaches to counseling and an enhanced comprehension of the unique mental health problems faced by the LGBTQ population.

For four decades, leading physicians have called patients the most under-used resource in healthcare, a sentiment amplified by statements like "Nothing about me without me." But slogans alone don’t cause change, and the time has come to teach clinicians (and patients/caregivers) to evolve healthcare in the internet age and to seek the evidence, rationale, and theoretical basis for these practices. While many patients are not yet "e-patients" (empowered and engaged), new care models are emerging and real. When new methods are understood and developed, the workload can be rebalanced, and the results can be more fulfilling for all. This unconventional keynote will be shared, fittingly, by the best-known exemplars of this new model: stage IV cancer survivor "e-Patient Dave" deBronkart and his physician, Dr. Danny Sands. They are two of the co-founders of the Society for Participatory Medicine and co-authors of "Let Patients Help: A Patient Engagement Handbook." Participants will learn about the transformative and potentially disruptive movement of participatory medicine, and they will leave informed -- even empowered -- to take effective new actions on behalf of their patients.

Knee pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal complaints in primary care. This presentation will cover a systematic evidence-based approach to the knee exam. Through live demonstrations and patient cases, you will learn differences between a knee exam focused on acute versus overuse injuries and develop more awareness of pediatric and geriatric considerations.

This lecture will provide up to date evaluation and management of common musculoskeletal injuries in competitive and recreational athletes. This information will also be applicable to the all patient populations who participate in individual and team sporting activities. The lecture is designed for family physicians, internists, sports medicine physicians in a clinic or nonoperative/noninvasive setting. At the end of this session the participant would have gained a more comprehensive understanding of common sports medicine injuries , return to play protocols and appropriate referral patterns for surgical intervention. The Presenter will rely on evidence based medicine where available.

This lecture will update the primary care provider (PCP) on current treatments for diabetic retinopathy, hypertension-related eye conditions, and glaucoma. These three entities are common conditions seen in many of our patients, and a better understanding of the current treatment patterns will improve communication between primary care and ophthalmology. Increasing the specialty knowledge base of the PCPs allows for better co-management and patient education of disease process, management options, and prognosis.