This is the highlights list from the 2024 course.

ALLERGY/IMMUNOLOGY

• What to do when there is no allergist
• How to resolve inappropriate low-risk penicillin allergy labels
• Updates in anaphylaxis management
• Things we do for no reason: steroids for anaphylaxis?
• Class action: sorting out the overlap between penicillin and cephalosporins

 

CARDIOVASCULAR

• Less is more in the long run? DAPT vs. monotherapy in ACS
• End of an era? Beta-blockers after acute MI
• Coronary CTA: as good as cardiac catheterization?
• How low should you go? Hemoglobin targets in acute coronary syndromes
• State-of-the-art management of systolic and diastolic heart failure
• Titration of GDMT: are we being too wimpy?
• More data to support GLP-1 receptor agonists for obesity-related HFpEF
• Overcoming diuretic resistance in heart failure
• Reducing readmissions for heart failure: best practices in discharge planning
• Updated guidelines on atrial fibrillation management
• Avoiding common pitfalls of anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation
• Rhythm control versus rate control for atrial fibrillation revisited
• The jury is out: anticoagulation in silent atrial fibrillation with a low CHA2DS2-VASc
• Drug-drug interactions: DOACs and diltiazem
• Should you switch anticoagulants in patients with breakthrough strokes?

 

DERMATOLOGY

• Cellulitis: antibiotic dilemmas and when to call dermatology
• New data on optimal treatment duration for skin and soft tissue infections
• DRESSed to kill: drug reactions and other can’t-miss dermatology diagnoses
• Cutaneous findings of systemic disease
• Differentiating skin infections and mimics in hospitalized patients
• Cellulitis or venous stasis? Demystifying the swollen red leg
• A cautionary tale: antibiotics with high risk of dermatologic reactions

 

DIAGNOSTICS

• Can’t-miss ECG diagnoses
• Radiology pearls: identifying subtle findings on CXR
• Rapid-fire review of electrolyte, liver, and hematology cases
• Contrast or no contrast? Choosing the right imaging protocols

 

ENDOCRINE

• Dangers of SGLT2 inhibitors: euglycemic DKA and UTIs
• GLP-1 agonists for weight loss: hot takes for the hospitalist
• Challenging cases in inpatient insulin management
• Continuous glucose monitoring in hospitalized patients with diabetes
• New guidelines for the management of hyperglycemia in the hospital
• Adrenal insufficiency: whom to treat and how to taper steroids
• Pitfalls in managing thyroid disease in medically ill patients
• Practical approach to adrenal incidentalomas
• When to worry about pheochromocytoma

 

EQUITY

• Anti-racism in hospital medicine, from triage to care transitions
• Providing top-notch inpatient care to patients with obesity
• Trauma-informed care in the hospital
• Inequities in organ transplantation in the US
• Race-based reference ranges: end of an error
• Racial equity and pain management in the hospital
• Improving patient outcomes with interpreter services

 

GASTROINTESTINAL

• Covert hepatic encephalopathy: more common than you think
• Evolving strategies for hepatorenal syndrome: terlipressin
• New guidelines for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis management and prophylaxis
• Managing the cirrhotic patient with bleeding and thrombosis
• Updates on management of upper and lower GI bleeds
• Optimal timing of endoscopy in upper GI bleeds
• New risk scores to help manage patients with upper GI bleeds
• Too soon? When to resume anticoagulation and antiplatelet agents after a GI bleed
• Fluid resuscitation in acute pancreatitis: less is more
• Optimal timing for intra-abdominal drainage in necrotizing pancreatitis
• Urgent and non-urgent indications for ERCP
• Current approaches to preventing post-ERCP pancreatitis

 

GERIATRICS

• Preoperative frailty assessment in older adults
• Delirium: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
• Non-pharmacologic interventions for delirium prevention
• Difficult cases in delirium management
• Best practices in pharmacotherapy for agitated delirium
• Greater caution with antipsychotics in dementia
• Less is more: polypharmacy and deprescribing in older patients

 

HEMATOLOGY

• Management of patients with bleeding and thrombosis
• Diagnosis and management of hypercoagulable states
• Pearls for the diagnosis and management of thrombocytopenia
• Diagnostic approach to anemia in the hospital
• Transfusion thresholds in the hospital: how low should you go?
• Updated venous thromboembolism guidelines
• Is it ever OK to stop anticoagulation in unprovoked venous thrombosis?
• What’s in a name: should we use “provoked” vs. “unprovoked” VTE?
• Do they really need admission? Identifying the low-risk PE patient
• Are DOACs the preferred anticoagulant in patients with cancer?
• More data on DOACs in patients with obesity and chronic kidney disease

 

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

• Comprehensive review of inpatient antibiotic therapy
• Short-course antibiotics for common infections
• The debate continues: cefepime vs. piperacillin-tazobactam for sepsis
• Piperacillin-tazobactam and acute kidney injury: overblown?
• Injectable therapy for HIV
• Who should we screen for HIV in the inpatient setting?
• Mirror, mirror, on the wall, what’s the least “C-diffy” antibiotic of all?
• Does vancomycin still work against C. difficile?
• Oral fecal microbiota therapy: new first-line for C. difficile? 
• Fidaxomicin for C difficile: is it worth the expense?
• Eliminate multidrug-resistant infections with this one weird trick
• Controversies in the management of bacteremia
• When should we consult ID for bacteremia?
• Err on the side of caution: when to switch from IV to PO therapy in bacteremia
• Breakthroughs in MRSA therapeutics
• When should we cover for MRSA pneumonia?
• New treatment options for complicated UTIs

 

PALLIATIVE CARE

• Evidence-based strategies for serious illness conversations in the hospital
• Which patients benefit most from palliative care?
• Best practices for leading family meetings

 

PERIOPERATIVE MEDICINE

• Updates on perioperative aspirin, statins, beta blockers, and ACE inhibitors
• To hold or not to hold: understanding the latest on perioperative medication management
• GLP-1 management in perioperative settings
• The importance of frailty in assessing perioperative risk
• Reducing pulmonary risk in perioperative patients
• Perioperative anticoagulation: when should patients be bridged?

 

PREGNANCY

• Best practices for hypertension management in pregnancy
• Benefits, risks, and contraindications to radiologic studies in pregnant patients
• HELLP me: managing medical complications in pregnant and postpartum patients
• Periprocedural management of pregnant patients
• Treatment guidelines for UTI in pregnancy

 

PSYCHIATRY

• Pearls for managing patients with personality disorders in the hospital
• Inpatient management of psychiatric medications
• Diagnostic yield of neuroimaging for common psychiatric presentations
• Capacity assessment: can this patient make their own decisions?
• Best practices and risk mitigation for patient-directed discharges

 

PULMONARY/CRITICAL CARE

• Tailored steroid therapy in acute COPD exacerbations
• Practical applications of the 2023 GOLD guidelines
• Short-course antibiotics in COPD exacerbations
• Uses and limitations of cardioselective beta-blockade in COPD exacerbations
• Current recommendations for supplemental and high-flow O2 in critical illness
• New Surviving Sepsis guidelines
• The never-ending story: steroids in sepsis

 

RENAL

• New kid on the block: cystatin C for GFR
• Preventing the progression of chronic kidney disease: another win for GLP-1 agonists
• Are GLP-1 agonists and SGLT2 inhibitors kidney-saving medications?
• Diagnostic approach to acute kidney injury
• Is acute kidney injury a risk factor for dementia?
• New data: early renal replacement therapy in acute kidney injury
• Dialysis access: what the hospitalist needs to know
• PICC and choose: IV access in ESRD patients
• Ironing it out: managing anemia in ESRD
• Blood pressure management in end-stage renal disease
• Updates on hyperkalemia and hyperphosphatemia management

 

STROKE

• Approach to imaging in acute stroke syndromes
• Updates on AHA/ASA guidelines for stroke management
• To DAPT or not to DAPT: antiplatelet therapy in stroke and TIA
• Thrombolysis in acute stroke: are we going to need a bigger window?
• New agents for thrombolysis in acute stroke
• Thrombolytics vs. DAPT for mild strokes: weighing the risks and benefits
• Thrombectomy for acute stroke: is it underused?
• Telestroke: an idea whose time has come?
• Staying cryptocurrent on cryptogenic stroke
• Avoiding hemorrhagic transformation in stroke: when is it safe to start anticoagulation?
• Should you switch anticoagulants in patients with breakthrough strokes?

 

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS 

• Treating acute and chronic pain in patients with substance use disorders
• Management of complicated alcohol withdrawal
• Updates on phenobarbital for alcohol withdrawal management
• Medication management for alcohol use disorder at discharge
• Microdosing protocols for buprenorphine induction
• Harm reduction: reducing the risk of opiate overdose at discharge

   

SYNCOPE

• Syncope: when to worry about cardiac causes
• Diagnostic approach to the patient with recurrent syncope
• Evidence-based tools for risk-stratification in syncope
• Orthostatic syncope: does midodrine help?