Taking the fear out of going to the doctor for preschool and school aged youth was an effort of the Family & Consumer Sciences Agent.  What’s in a Doctor’s Bag?, a children’s book, was used to teach preschool, head start, kindergarten, first grade and second grade youth healthy lifestyles and to jump-start them as “medically” literate consumers.

The story is about a child who is left alone in a doctor's office & who accidentally knocks over the doctor's black bag. The instruments fall on the floor & turn into characters... including Otis the Otoscope, Lubba Dubba, & Ms. Kneeknocker, Woody, Tempo, & Mr. B.P. Cuff. These creatures give away their secrets & demystify medicine. The cold, sterile instruments metamorphose into warm fuzzy friends with fun & easy to pronounce names. When the doctor arrives in the office, the child is no longer afraid. WHAT'S IN A DOCTOR'S BAG? is recommended by specialists at the Children's National Medical Center as a means of alleviating a child's fear of the doctor.

The evaluations show 94% of the 108 youth could properly identify the instruments, 82% showed understanding of positive health habits can prevent injuries and spreading of diseases to self and others, 92% could describe reasons for regular visits to health care providers, and 89% could identify and practice health habits of hand washing, care of teeth and eyes, covering mouth when coughing or sneezes) which affect self and others in the prevention and spread of disease. One parent reported, “My toddler loves the “What’s in the Doctors Bag” program. She has become less afraid of visits and enjoys learning about all she sees in the doctor’s office now.""  Another parent who's child was in the program 5 years ago approached me at a local event community event to say that "my daughter still remembers the instruments and what they are for and she has helped her younger siblings not to be afraid when they go to the doctor.: