Dr. Letitia Bradford’s son Kai, like many 6-year-old boys, is usually enticed by Nerf guns and video games. But last Christmas, to Bradford’s surprise, he asked for a pink and purple “Doc McStuffins” medical kit so he could listen to mom’s heartbeat.

Kai is one of millions of 2- to 7-year-olds who have been drawn into the world of “Doc McStuffins,” an Emmy-nominated Disney series about a girl who doctors broken toys in her playhouse clinic. Earlier this summer, Kai’s mom left their Sacramento home to fly to Van Nuys, where she starred in an educational short that will air during the program next week.

Bradford, who practices orthopedic and general surgery at George L. Mee Memorial Hospital inMonterey County, was one of five physicians invited to the set to explain her specialty by acting out a scene. The real-life scenes aim to bolster the animated series’s lessons about the importance of going to the doctor, said the show’s creator Chris Nee.