Elizabeth Griffin, MD ’08, a pediatrics resident, shows 5-year-old Juliana Sweet a stack of physician trading cards. Griffin created the cards as a way to help patients and their families become familiar with the people who care for them throughout the day. Photo by Jesse S. Jones

Someday on eBay, a 2010 Elizabeth Griffin card might be sought after as much as a 1951 Mickey Mantle.

Well … maybe not. But to the children being treated at Shands at UF and their families, the physician trading cards UF pediatrics resident Elizabeth Griffin, MD ’08, developed may be worth a dozen mint-condition rookie Mantle cards. Maybe more.

Griffin, a third-year pediatrics resident and graduate of the College of Medicine, took on the project during her first year of residency after noticing how confusing it was for families in the hospital to keep track of all the doctors who see them throughout the day.

“As pediatricians, most of us don’t wear a white coat,” Griffin says. “So, immediately, we are not recognized as a doctor. Parents just cannot remember who we are. The residents come in, the nurses come in, the students come in. This is a way for families to have a face, a name and a title to help them recognize us more.”

The size of a standard baseball card, each orange and blue trading card features a picture of the doctor and the medical version of position played and RBIs — ­his or her title and fun facts, such as hometown and hobbies. The cards even give an explanation of the doctor’s title, so parents know who’s a resident, who’s a fellow and who’s an attending physician.

In all, the project took about two years to complete. Griffin obtained funding from the Children’s Miracle Network to print the cards.

“When kids are admitted now they get these cards and have a collection of their doctors,” said Griffin, who has a 2-year-old daughter herself.

Griffin is assessing data she collected before the cards were distributed and after to see how effective they have been in getting families better acquainted with their doctors. Now that she is almost finished with her residency, she also is looking for another resident to take the project on after she leaves.

“The kids love them,” she said. “I would like to see it continue.”