Disney Jr. To Highlight Real Doctors in 'Doc McStuffins' Interstitials

Disney Jr. will highlight real-life health professionals as part of a Doc McStuffins weekly programming block airing later this month.

The Sept. 22 to Sept. 26 programming stunt, Doc McStuffins: School Of Medicine, will run feature back to back episodes of the hit series as well as interstitials featuring medical professionals that have specialties that mirror those from the series, said Disney executives.

Medical professionals highlighted in the interstitials are members of the Artemis Medical Society -- created by several women physicians of color around the series -- including Dr. Letitia Bradford, an orthopedic surgeon in California's Salinas Valley; and Dr. Angela U. Tucker, a family medicine practitioner in Columbus, Ohio.  Also featured in the interstitials are dentist Dr. David Kang and nurse practitioner Bill Kenny, both of Children's Hospital Los Angeles; and Christian Sequeira, a Los Angeles-based Emergency Medical Technician.

 Disney Studios this Tuesday will also release a Doc McStuffins: School of Medicine DVD with an exclusive Doc McStuffins dress up playset featuring the African-American cartoon character in her different specialty outfits.

On Friday (Sept. 12) the WATCH Disney Junior TV Everywhere service will launch over 30 microgames focused on different doctor specialties for kids to play and earn their own Doc McStuffins: School of Medicine certificate, said network officials.  

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.