Kids get to be the doctor. Grown-ups get to be the patient.
The Story of You Healthcare Fair is our yearly hands-on wellness day for elementary schoolers and the grown-ups who love them. Every station is designed and run by a UVA School of Medicine student interest group, and every one ends with a conversation families can take home.
1It started in a school library, with just the two of us.
Two years ago, our founders ran every single station of the very first Story of You Healthcare Fair themselves: cardboard digestive systems, marker-covered teeth, bubbles, and a stamp pad. This year, nine med student groups are taking it from there.
Photos from our first-ever Healthcare Fair, 2024 — back when it was just the founders.
Better health means understanding ourselves.
At the Story of You Healthcare Fair, we ask our students to learn more about the inner workings of their bodies through interactive stations and conversations with parents and community members. Each station is designed following the Do. Learn. Wonder. Talk. framework, with the goal of helping our students understand “How do I take care of this?” and “What happens if something feels off?”
Nine stations. One passport.
Here’s what this year’s med student groups are building. Pick a station, read the talk prompt with your child, and stamp your passport — the same rule we use on fair day.
stamped
Full passport. Junior Doctor, reporting for duty.
On fair day, a full passport earns a prize at the finish line. Bring this same energy.
Your heart is a muscle. Let’s watch it work.
A preview of the Cardiology station you can try at home, right now, with your grown-up keeping time.
- Find your pulse on your wrist or neck (two fingers, not your thumb).
- Press Start, then tap the heart every time you feel a beat for 15 seconds.
- Do 30 seconds of jumping jacks (or march in place) and count again.
Drag across the teeth to brush off the plaque. Don’t forget the back ones.
Brush like you mean it.
At the Dentistry station, kids color a giant set of teeth with washable marker, then brush every bit of it off while a volunteer shows the right technique. Try the digital version — the ones you rush past are the ones that stay fuzzy.
Tonight at dinner, ask each other:
Good to know before you come.
How it works
- Every child gets a Health Passport at check-in.
- Stations are open-flow: visit in any order, 8–10 minutes each.
- Stamps come after the activity and the family talk prompt.
- A full passport earns a prize at the finish line. Partial passports still go home with stickers.
Safe for everyone
- A grown-up stays with their child the whole time. No drop-off.
- Nut-free, latex-free, washable supplies. No food is eaten at demos.
- Every movement activity has a seated or low-intensity version.
- Hand sanitizer at the stations and a first-aid desk at check-in.
Made for every family
- Free admission, always.
- Bilingual passport and signage, with Spanish-speaking volunteers.
- Wheelchair-height tables and activities you can do sitting down.
- A quiet corner for kids who need a break from the noise.
Built by future doctors.
Each station is adopted by one UVA School of Medicine interest group. They design the activity, gather the supplies, rehearse with us, and run it on fair day — putting med students face to face with the families they’ll one day serve.
Leading a med student group that wants a station next year? We’ll hand you the station formula, a planning template, a supplies budget, and a passport stamp.
Adopt a station →Bring your family. Bring your questions.
Come for an afternoon of stethoscopes, splints, sun capes, and real conversations about taking care of the body you live in.
Date and location are shared with families first.