Scientific program and educational objectives

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
March 8 to 11, 2027

Multi-specialty update : surgery, obesity and cholesterol, pediatrics, microbiology and infectious diseases, artificial intelligence

Target audience: English-speaking family physicians and specialists

Scientific registration fee

  • Physicians and other professionals : 450 $
  • Resident : 100 $

This fee is payable only by the person requesting the attendance certificate. Spouses and accompanying persons may attend the talks at no additional cost. Accommodation must be booked through Cameleo CME. 

While we don’t expect the scientific program to change, we reserve the right to modify it as needed. 

For questions about a reservation or accommodations, please follow this link to the event or call 1-800-590-5995.

General learning objectives
By the end of this program, participants will be able to :

  • Adapt first-line management of wounds, hernias, and trauma by integrating evidence-based data and referral indications.
  • Optimize the prevention, diagnosis, and management of viral and vector-borne infections, including the appropriate use of vaccination in adults.
  • Analyze and apply artificial intelligence concepts, types, and limitations to select, implement, and evaluate appropriate AI solutions within clinical contexts.
  • Apply key principles of obesity management to select appropriate treatments and counsel patients based on their individual needs.
  • Apply current cholesterol guidelines to assess cardiovascular risk and select appropriate LDL-lowering strategies.
  • Evaluate pediatric patients presenting with foreign body incidents or head trauma and implement appropriate acute management strategies.
  • Apply current pediatric guidelines to the evaluation and management of children with asthma and ADHD.

Monday March 8, 2027

9:00am to 9:15am 
Word of welcome

9:15am to 10:15am (including a 15-minute period question)
Wound healing and care
Jacinthe Lampron, MD
General Surgeon, Medical Director, Trauma Program, Ottawa Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Identify and assess different types of wounds in clinical practice.
  • Apply evidence-based principles of wound management.
  • Identify wounds that require escalation of care of referral.
  • Incorporate patient-centred strategies to optimize healing.


10:15am to 11:15am (including a 15-minute period question)
Inguinal, umbilical and incisional hernias
Jacinthe Lampron, MD
General Surgeon, Medical Director, Trauma Program, Ottawa Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Recognize common outpatient hernia presentations.
  • Identify red flags requiring urgent referral.
  • Manage appropriately in primary care and refer when indicated.


11:15am to 11:30am Break

11:30am to 12:30pm (including a 15-minute period question)
Recent wars and advances in trauma
Jacinthe Lampron, MD
General Surgeon, Medical Director, Trauma Program, Ottawa Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Describe injury patterns from recent wars and contrast them with civilian trauma.
  • Discuss key wartime innovations in hemorrhage control and trauma resuscitation.
  • Apply relevant trauma principles to early hospital and outpatient care.
  • Recognize long‑term medical impacts of major trauma survivorship.

Tuesday March 9, 2027

9:00am to 10:00am (including a 15-minute period question)
Update in common virology
Karl Weiss, MD
Medical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist, Jewish General Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Recognize diagnostic methods, treatments for infections caused by herpes simplex and varicella zoster viruses.
  • Discuss and recognize the epidemiology, diagnosis and clinical consequences for certain groups of the Dengue, Zika and Chikungunya viruses. 


10:00am to 11:00am (including a 15-minute period question)
Tick-borne infections
Karl Weiss, MD
Medical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist, Jewish General Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Discuss and recognize clinical presentations and treatments for Lyme disease.
  • Discuss and recognize the epidemiology, clinical presentation and treatment of anaplasmosis and babesiosis. 


11:00am to 11:15am Break

11:15am to 12:15pm (including a 15-minute period question)
Vaccination in adults
Karl Weiss, MD
Medical microbiologist and infectious disease specialist, Jewish General Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Discuss and recognize the advantages and limitations of different pneumococcal vaccines.
  • Discuss and recognize the indications and protection of herpes zoster vaccines.
  • Discuss respiratory syncytial virus vaccines.
  • Discuss patients’ concerns related to vaccination.

Wednesday March 10, 2027

9:00am to 10:00am (including a 15-minute period question)
Obesity Management: the chronic disease that is not a choice
Neil Naik, MD
Family Physician, Ontario Health

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Identify key neurohormonal pathways regulating satiety, appetite, and energy metabolism.
  • List the major pillars of obesity management.
  • Name currently available pharmacologic agents for obesity treatment.
  • Apply obesity management principles to patient scenarios.
  • Understand the limitations of current definitions of obesity. 
  • Select appropriate therapeutic options based on patient characteristics and disease severity.
  • Initiate evidence‑based counseling on expectations, benefits, and limitations of obesity treatments.


10:00am to 11:00am (including a 15-minute period question)
Optimizing LDL: Strategies for Early Intervention
Neil Naik, MD
Family Physician, Ontario Health

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Recall key updates from the cholesterol guidelines.
  • Summarize differences in treatment approach between primary and secondary prevention.
  • Describe the role of Lp(a) in cardiovascular risk stratification, primary prevention and determining when to screen.
  • Implement appropriate lipid‑lowering strategies based on patient risk.


11:00am to 11:15am Break

11:15am to 12:15am (including a 15-minute period question)
Beyond the Hype: A clinician’s practical guide to artificial intelligence
Neil Naik, MD
Family Physician, Ontario Health

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Define artificial intelligence and identify key milestones in the historical development of AI.
  • List the major types of AI currently used in healthcare (e.g., rule‑based systems, machine learning, deep learning, generative AI).
  • Explain what distinguishes AI from traditional software systems.
  • Understand the various levels of AI intelligence.
  • Match common medical and educational problems to appropriate types of AI solutions.
  • Demonstrate how AI tools can be applied in specific medical use cases (e.g., diagnostics, triage, documentation, education).
  • Apply basic principles of AI implementation within a clinical or educational workflow.
  • Understand how AI fails and how to plan for it.

Thursday March 11, 2027

9:00am to 9:45am (including a 11-minute period question)
Stuck, swallowed or stuffed: the Foreign Body Fiasco
François Gagnon, MD, FRCPC
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Montreal Children’s Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Manage acute upper airway obstruction from a foreign body.
  • Identify patients at risk of foreign body aspiration.
  • Manage and appropriately refer patients with swallowed foreign bodies.
  • Discuss strategies for safe nasal/auricular foreign body removal in the office.

9:45am to 10:30am (including a 11-minute period question)
Stop raking your brain over traumatic brain injury
François Gagnon, MD, FRCPC
Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Montreal Children’s Hospital

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Identify patients at risk for skull fractures and clinically significant traumatic brain injury.
  • Manage and appropriately refer to the ED patients with head trauma.
  • Manage and diagnose post-traumatic concussive syndrome.


10:30am to 10:45am Break

10:45am to 11:30am (including a 11-minute period question)
What’s new in pediatric asthma
Cassandre Têtu, MD, FRCPC
Pediatrician, Hôpital Pierre-Boucher

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Explain recent recommendations for the outpatient treatment of asthma in children.
  • Apply this management approach to different age groups.

11:30am to 12:15am (including a 11-minute period question)

Approach to treating ADHD in children 
Cassandre Têtu, MD, FRCPC
Pediatrician, Hôpital Pierre-Boucher

By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to :

  • Explain the basics of diagnosing ADHD in children.
  • Discuss the non-pharmaceutical and pharmaceutical options for treatment.
Members of the scientific committee and collaborators
  • Gilles Brousseau, family physician, Gatineau, QC – scientific director
  • Maxime Britt-Côté, family physician, Ottawa, ON
  • Dimitrios Divaris, anatomopathology, Waterloo, ON
  • Maryse Lavoie, OB-GYN, Barrie, ON
  • Monica Rusu, family physician, Port Coquitlam, BC
  • Jade Séguin, pediatrician, Montreal, QC