UCSF Primary Care Medicine Update 2024
Overview
Primary Care is the essential core of modern medical practice. Increasingly difficult management decisions must be made in diverse ambulatory environments and via telemedicine. Primary care clinicians continue to do it all: preventive medicine, reduction of cardiovascular risk factors, acute clinical problems, chronic disease management, women’s health, behavioral medicine, geriatrics, and much more. Effective practice requires understanding the optimal use of new diagnostic tests and new medications. Health disparities and the care of vulnerable patients are a central part of our daily practice as we try to maximize quality, safety, equity, and value. Close collaboration with other specialists, inpatient colleagues, and diverse teams of health professionals is essential for the care of our complex patients.
This course will present a comprehensive review of new developments in outpatient medicine, controversies in primary care practice, and updates in care of patients with COVID-19 and other serious infections. The course will focus on the skills and strategies needed in day-to-day office practice. The curriculum will feature in-depth discussion of challenging cases in preventive medicine, common problems in ambulatory care, and a broad selection of acute and chronic illnesses. This course will also be an excellent opportunity to update office-based skills in dermatology, neurology, infectious disease, clinical oncology, endocrinology, clinical nutrition, and urgent care. The course will utilize formal lectures, case discussions, an audience response system, questions and answers, a detailed syllabus, and on-demand access to course recordings. Ample time will be reserved for interprofessional discussion of challenging cases. Remote learning opportunities will also be available.
The course is presented by the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine of the Department of Medicine and is sponsored by the Office of Continuing Medical Education, University of California, San Francisco.
Target Audience
This course, chaired by Dr. Robert B. Baron and taught by UCSF’s best teachers, is designed for practicing internists, family practitioners, advance practice providers, and all other health professionals interested in providing high quality primary care.
Objectives
The purpose of this course is to increase competence and improve clinician practice in primary care and ambulatory practice. We specifically anticipate improvements in skills and strategies to:
- Implement new guidelines in office-based preventive medicine including new strategies for cancer prevention and screening, immunizations, and prevention of coronary heart disease and stroke;
- Manage common and complex office problems including hyperlipidemia, diabetes, osteoporosis, TIAs, strokes, respiratory infections, STI’s, and common cancers;
- Understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on primary care practice and use best practices to treat patients with COVID-related conditions;
- Treat common disorders in dermatology including skin cancer, eczema, acne, hair loss, chronic urticaria, drug eruptions, skin infections, and disorders of aging skin;
- Understand and treat obesity and use the new obesity medications;
- Manage common concerns in women’s health including contraception and menopause;
- Understand the most recent evidence on use of vitamins, nutritional supplements, and exercise;
- Increase expertise in managing common and commonly-missed orthopedic problems;
- Develop best practices in giving prognostic advice for common cancers;
- Select the best current and future diagnostic tests and best new medications, including new cancer therapies;
- Use best evidence and optimize patient communication and shared-decision making;
- Improve interprofessional teamwork and collaboration;
- Enhance value in medical practice;
- Become a better clinician and advocate with a deeper understanding of health disparities and the central role of primary care clinicians in providing equitable, patient-centered care.
