Piedmont Athens Regional is offering a free conference for physicians and other health care professionals focused on current topics in primary care on Jan. 21 from 7 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.

“We are very excited with the dynamic and engaging speakers for this conference,” said Dr. Catherine Apaloo, Internal Medicine Residency Director at Piedmont Athens Regional and co-chair of the conference planning committee.

Apaloo said the need for this conference is important to keep primary care providers up-to-date on the latest advances.

“The challenge with primary care is not only the breadth of the specialties like internal medicine and family practice, but also the need to stay current. Keeping up with the latest evidence based recommendations can be overwhelming for busy health care professionals. Our Primary Care Conference provides local health care professionals with a convenient way to stay up-to-date on a variety of clinical topics commonly seen in primary care.”

The conference, now in its eighth year, draws participants from all of northeast Georgia, with some coming as far as Rome, Ga.

Topics for this year’s conference include heroin and other opioids, ENT updates, MACRA, dealing with the difficult patient, hepatitis C, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer surveillance recommendations, non-medication approaches to pain management, and 3D mammograms.

The conference will be held in the Medical Services Building at Piedmont Athens Regional. Continuing education credit is available for both physicians and pharmacists.

This conference is free and open to all members of the health care team. Additional information and registration is found at www.athenshealth.org/primary-care-conference.