A longitudinal community-based underserved care elective for family practice residents.

The Longitudinal Community-based Underserved Care Elective at the Virginia Commonwealth University-Hanover Family Practice Residency Program is, to our knowledge, the first report of a longitudinal 2-year elective in community-based clinics for underserved patients that supplements continuity patient care at a residency family practice center. Providing longitudinal patient care in both settings offers benefits for participating residents and the community. Over the program's first 3 years, 13 residents have provided approximately 2,700 office visits to the area's uninsured poor. Residency programs lacking a significant underserved patient population but located near community-based clinics for the underserved may benefit from offering a similar experience.