Teddy Bear Clinic wishlist
For a child, a doctor’s visit can mean unfamiliar faces, strange equipment and questions they don’t quite know how to ask. At our Teddy Bear Clinic, we hope to give children a chance to explore those feelings—with a stuffed animal in their arms and someone ready to listen.
The Virtuous Healer Honor Society at Northeast Ohio Medical University is organizing a Teddy Bear Clinic, tentatively scheduled for February 2027, where children become the doctors, guiding their stuffed animals through pretend checkups alongside medical students. They can listen to their bear’s heartbeat, place a bandage and decide when their little patient is ready for the next step. In a setting where children are so often told what will happen, this is a moment when they get to lead.
We are reaching out to local schools, foster care programs and community organizations to welcome children from rural and underserved communities. We may not know what experiences each child brings through the door. Some may carry memories of painful procedures, long hospital stays or moments when they had little control. We hope to offer a welcoming space where they can ask questions, move at their own pace and have their choices respected.
You Can Help
To help make this possible, we invite the NEOMED community to support our Butterfly Pig wishlist, which includes miniature medical and adaptive equipment for our stuffed animal patients. Items such as IV infusion pumps, feeding tubes, heart monitors, vent machine, hearing aids and much more will help children explore unfamiliar equipment through play. For a child who uses a medical device, seeing similar equipment on their bear could offer a quiet but meaningful reminder that they belong.
The medical students beside them will be learning, too. A child’s tight grip on their bear is an invitation to slow down, listen and earn their trust. We hope students carry these moments into their future practice, remembering that what feels routine to a physician may be frightening for the child in front of them—and that making room for a child’s voice is part of caring for them.
Donated items will be reused at future Teddy Bear Clinics, helping us welcome new children, families and students each year. With every use, your gift can give another child a chance to understand something unfamiliar and another future physician a chance to practice listening with patience and compassion.
To help, click here to visit our Butterfly Pig wishlist, choose an item and follow the checkout instructions. Please double-check the shipping address before placing your order.
If you have trouble arranging delivery or want to get involved, contact Lauren Falcon at lfalcon@neomed.edu.
Whether you purchase an item or share our wishlist, thank you for helping us create a place where children can feel seen, heard and ready to take the lead—with their bears beside them.