Educating The Patient With Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD): More Must Be Done At the Primary Care Level. Naser Khan MD, Sarosh Bukhari DO, Asif Lakha MD, Baseer Qazi MD, Nancy Davis MA, Hymie Kavin MD. Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology Introduction: Despite the advent of potent acid suppressive medications such as proton pump inhibitors, GERD continues to be a significant problem. Nearly 20 million American’s suffer from the disease and nearly 20 percent of the entire western population suffers from the disease. In a poll conducted by the NY times, it has been shown that only 15% of patients fully understand what their doctors tell them, and that 50% leave their doctors' offices uncertain of what they are supposed to do to take care of themselves. Methods: Conclusions: 333 out of 333 patients that gave informed consent completed the survey. 49.5% (165) patients were male. Mean age was 43.7 ± 13.1 years. 33.9% (113) patients claimed that they did not have an in-depth discussion with their primary care physician regarding lifestyle modifications and risk factors affecting GERD. 74.7% (249) patients were taking a PPI. Of those taking a PPI, 39.4% (98) of patients did not know the correct time to take their medication. Only 32.7% (109) patients were aware that elevating the head of the bed or placing pillows under their head and neck to elevate their torso while sleeping was associated with less GERD symptoms. Patients that had an in-depth discussion with their primary care doctor (PCP) were more likely to know the best position to sleep in order to avoid the symptoms of GERD. (p=0.049) Results After informed consent was obtained, a multiple choice question survey was administered in person to 333 patients carrying a diagnosis of GERD in the primary care setting. Patients that had an in-depth discussion with their primary care doctor were more likely to know that weight reduction through exercise and smoking cessation was associated with reduced GERD symptoms. (p<0.001). 82.3% (274) patients were unaware that coffee, alcohol, milk and citrus drinks can all be associated with worsening GERD symptoms. 31.8% (106) patients were unaware that untreated GERD can be associated with a condition that can result in cancer of the esophagus. Patients that had an in-depth discussion with their PCP were more likely to know that eating six smaller sized meals was better than eating 3 regular sized meals and fried food s in reducing the symptoms of GERD. In our study, one-third of patients did not have an in-depth discussion with their primary care physician regarding GERD and its modifiable risk factors. Patients that had an in-depth discussion were likely to be educated better with regards to GERD. Because GERD affects at least 20% of the entire western population and is associated with increased healthcare costs and reduced quality of life, more emphasis should be placed in the education of the patient suffering from this disease at the primary care level.