An estimated 1.3 million adults have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). During the last two decades, advances have been made in the understanding of the pathophysiology of this condition. This increased knowledge lends itself to improved diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory arthritis. With these medical science advances, social determinants of health continue to affect persons with RA. Updated classification criteria for RA support the importance of early identification of those with this rheumatic disease. Biologics are important pharmacologic tools that can be used with traditional Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (DMARDs) for appropriately selected RA patients. Updated RA treatment guidelines were published by the American College of Rheumatology in 2021. An RA integrative treatment guideline was also published in 2023. This session will provide an update on the latest diagnostic and treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis to aid the non-rheumatology PA in providing care to persons with RA.

Continuous Glucose Monitoring is fast becoming standard-of-care for our many patients with diabetes. With new devices being approved, and more upcoming, it’s hard to stay on top of developments in the field. Let’s take a look at the latest devices (over the counter, longer-lasting!), upcoming devices (ketone-sensing!) and how to make the best use of the very latest technology in diabetes care.

Review basic MSK US imaging, procedures and alternatives

Assess, diagnosis and treatment for personality disorders with primary focus on understanding stigmas in social and medical settings for individuals with borderline personality disorders

This is a lecture designed to highlight inpatient and outpatient CV cases that we cannot afford to miss

This presentation will consider common etiologies of abnormal uterine bleeding, the means by which they are diagnosed, and their management. It will include systemic barriers to management of these entities, and will discuss both structural and systemic causes of abnormal uterine bleeding.

Back pain is a common reason that persons seek medical care. Several etiologies of back pain exist, including mechanical and pathological. Inflammatory back pain is also common and is often overlooked when persons present with back pain. The seronegative spondyloarthropathies are a family of inflammatory arthritides that should be considered when a person presents with low back pain. This presentation will focus on the presentation, work-up and treatment of inflammatory back pain and the diagnoses included in these conditions.

While CPAP therapy remains the most common treatment option offered to sleep apnea sufferers, it’s not always an ideal or realistic therapy. This lecture aims to increase awareness of mask-free alternatives while providing insights on their mechanism of action, appropriate candidate selection, contraindications, and monitoring for therapeutic benefit. Current research on future potential pharmacologic options for the treatment of sleep apnea will also be discussed.

This session is designed to help preceptors effectively integrate PA students into clinical settings without disrupting workflow. This session covers the role and expectations of preceptors, strategies for efficient student onboarding, and clinical teaching techniques that enhance student learning while maintaining practice efficiency. By the end of the session, attendees will gain practical tools to streamline precepting while fostering a productive learning environment that benefits both students and preceptors.

This presentation will consider the most common types of vaginitis (bacterial vaginosis, vulvovaginal candidiasis, and trichomoniasis), and will include the pathophysiology, history, physical exam findings, relevant laboratory studies, and management. It will also consider disparities in care of patients with vaginitis.

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) affects between 5-15% of adults, with 2-3% of adults having clinically significant symptoms and is a common disruptor of nighttime sleep. Treatment guidelines have changed dramatically over the past 15 years, with previously recommended treatments now recommended against. Discuss updated guidelines and practical strategies to ensure evidence-based treatment of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder.

This educational initiative is intended for PAs involved in the care patient pain management.

Have you ever received CBC results and wondered, What’s the next step? Do you hesitate and repeat the test, investigate further, or refer to the specialist? You’re not alone. This talk will explore common causes of CBC abnormalities and equip you with the knowledge to confidently manage benign hematologic conditions—while also recognizing when it's time to escalate care to hematology-oncology.

Engage and and educate the audience on atopic disease as an inflammatory disorder that affect more body systems than the skin.

Cognitive bias is pervasive in clinical practice and is implicated in hundreds of thousands of medical errors in the United States annually. Cognitive biases, or heuristics, are mental shortcuts that impact medical decision-making. This presentation is designed to help PAs reduce misdiagnosis by recognizing and limiting the effects of cognitive errors in clinical practice. Attendees will learn about the errors our minds make when evaluating patients, analyze how errors may have contributed to problems in past cases, discover methods to decrease cognitive error and misdiagnosis in our practice, and apply this knowledge and skill to future encounters. In both the main presentation and interactive case reviews, attendees will identify cognitive contributors to misdiagnosis and form an appropriate preventive response for use in future patient care.

DPC is revolutionizing primary care by restoring patient-centered medicine while eliminating administrative burdens. PAs were originally established to address physician shortages, and today, we can continue to lead in bridging the care gap in North Carolina. This session will explore the foundations of DPC, the practical steps to start a practice, and the impact PAs can have in reshaping healthcare accessibility.

Mastering ECG interpretation relies on 2 main concepts: 1) knowledge of the cardiac conduction system and 2) understanding how the ECG machine records those signals. I present a framework that offers an intersection of these 2 concepts that directly correlates to the interpretation of every ECG arrhythmia.

Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality for Americans with CKD as the most common cause of morbidity. One person dies every 33 seconds from CVD and someone’s kidneys fail every 5 minutes. In the spirit that acknowledges the interconnectivity of the heart, kidney and metabolic milieu in which they exist, the 3 largest internal medicine groups have banded together to identify and stage Cardio-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) Disease. With the cost of each organ system (25% of all Medicare dollars go to CKD + heart disease costs $240 billion each year), it is vital to slow the growth of CKM disease. Presently, more than three-quarters of US adults have stage 1 to 3 CKM syndrome. CKM is more common as we age, with 98% of adults over 65 y/o staged with CKM. Using case studies, we will identify, stage and intervene and slow progression of the CKM patient. All this is with the hope of slowing the crisis of CKM; especially for those patients with social determinants of health complications

This lecture will be an update for the busy clinician who is interested in learning about the latest hormonal and non-hormonal birth control options out on the market. This will be presented in a case based fashion so it is applicable to clinicians, and we will also include a case regarding a sexual minority woman to outline that it is not only cisgendered heterosexual women who may need birth control.

Normal aging changes/Healthy aging (this will touch in multiple organ systems, but I had to select one)

As title suggests I will review new and changed laws and regulations that affect our practice. We will also review pertinent laws and regulations to educate PAs and NPs.

Will review the background of obesity, first line approach of diet/exercise counseling, and review the FDA approved medications for treatment of obesity.

Mastering Medical Decision Making (MDM) Documentation provides clinicians with the tools to effectively document and code MDM. The presentation covers critical components, common ambiguities, and real-world coding scenarios, offering practical strategies to enhance documentation clarity, minimize audit risks, and align with guidelines for accurate coding.

Bipolar depression remains one of the most frequently misdiagnosed conditions in psychiatric practice, often masquerading as unipolar depression. This presentation explores the subtle yet crucial clinical markers that distinguish bipolar depression, equipping clinicians with practical tools for accurate assessment and diagnosis. Through case-based learning and evidence-based strategies, attendees will enhance their ability to identify key indicators of bipolar depression, understand common diagnostic pitfalls, and recognize critical differences from major depressive disorder. This session combines current research with real-world clinical experience to provide actionable insights for improved patient outcomes.

Lecture will be 50 minutes with embedded web-based audience response system to promote participant engagement.

Colorectal cancer is the third most diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females in the world. Fortunately, we have come a long way in the fight against colorectal cancer with improved screening, treatment, and surveillance measures. This presentation will take the audience on a journey of how we are currently battling colorectal cancer and what promising therapies are on the horizon. Finally, this presentation will discuss how all practitioners can aid in the fight against colorectal cancer and how they can work with their oncology colleagues to best serve their mutual patients.

Hearing loss is a highly prevalent condition that affects many people negatively. This session will help us review the anatomical structures involved in hearing, discuss common causes of hearing loss, examine diagnostic testing, and explore the relationship between hearing loss and overall health. We will go over some identified health disparities related to hearing loss and discuss strategies to address and close these gaps.

Primary care clinicians (PCCs) are often the first healthcare professional to identify patients with vasomotor symptoms (VMS). However, many women with VMS associated with menopause are undertreated, worsening the burden and impact on quality of life. New and emerging treatments show great promise, and many women with menopause-associated VMS may be adequately treated in primary care. This presentation is designed to explore those treatments and improve the care of women with menopause associated VMS.

As the legal, social, and medical landscape surrounding cannabis continually changes, keeping up with what's fact and fiction can be a real trip. This session provides clinicians a balanced approach to what the evidence says about the pharmacology and physiological effects of cannabis, research-backed and approved indications for medical use, as well as its short- and long-term health impacts. We’ll also blaze through the past, present, and future of the social and legal status of cannabis, including potential clinical, personal, and professional impacts of rescheduling and legalization.