The Family Care Clinic (FCC) continuity experience at Bellevue Hospital provides an ongoing opportunity for all residents to function as primary care physicians in the context of the family. Because residents provide continuity of care in the Pediatric Resource Center at Bellevue, resources and/or comprehensive services are available to diagnose and manage virtually any medical, surgical or psychosocial problem encountered.

Once a patient is assigned to a resident's FCC, the patient remains with that resident for the duration of his/her training. During an FCC session, approximately 4-8 patients are seen with the total number increasing progressively with the resident's level of training. Supervision is provided by the general pediatric faculty (one attending physician for every 3-4 residents) who remain with their FCC group for the duration of training. An important aspect of our continuity experience is that faculty members do not see their own patients while supervising residents in FCC.

As the academic year progresses, residents can recruit patients seen on the wards or in the Pediatric Emergency Service to their FCC. This allows each resident the opportunity to follow patients for whom they have provided acute care. Additionally, residents can recruit neonates to their FCC while rotating through the Low-Risk (Level 1) Nursery providing a unique opportunity for residents to follow patients from birth through age 2-3 years.

Bellevue's FCC population includes families from all parts of the world, many of whom are recent immigrants. As might be expected in a hospital serving a large and diverse population, residents become comfortable with providing primary care for a broad spectrum of patients in a culturally sensitive context and often forge close physician-patient relationships over the years.