More than 145 family physicians, nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists learned updates on marijuana and medicine, fibromyalgia, sleep apnea and common orthopaedic issues at the 40th Annual Family Medicine Intensive Review Course May 10 – 12 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The conference was produced by the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Community Health and Education division.
The conference offered 23 hours of continuing education on medical issues that family practice deals with regularly such as vaccinations, smoking cessation, streamlining clinic operations and prescribing opioids. Amy Mullins, M.D., medical director for the American Academy of Family Physicians, kicked off the first day with an update on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.
Jerad Gardner, M.D., a dermatopathologist at UAMS who lectures internationally on bone and soft tissue tumors, skin disease and professional use of social media, spoke on how physicians can use social media to communicate with their patients.
“I was impressed by Dr. Gardner’s impact using social networks. Some are called to medical missions to another country, a free clinic or making house calls to the poor. He paints with a broader brush the power of social media to connect with and encourage people with rare conditions,” said Jack Blackshear, M.D., who has attended the conference for five years.
The last day included orthopedic topics ranging from neck pain to tingling and numbness in the hand, and some of the attendees practiced joint injections with a hands-on workshop afterward with John Bracey, M.D., instructing on hand and shoulder injections and Michael Cassat, M.D., focusing on knee injections.