Timeline

This page contains timelines from Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. All time references in the shows are listed, but those who are chronologically incorrect, are marked with a footnote (with an explanation of why it's wrong at the bottom of the page).

Pre-Show

 * Vivian Carlsmith was born in 1938 or 1939.
 * Seattle Grace Hospital was established in 1947.
 * Adele Webber married Richard Webber at 25.
 * Vivian Carlsmith gave birth to a baby she was forced to give up in 1954.
 * Sheldon Wallace was born in 1957.
 * Derek Shepherd was born in 1966.
 * Addison Forbes Montgomery was born in 1967.
 * Mark Sloan was born in 1968.
 * Callie Torres was born in 1975.
 * Cristina Yang was born in 1976
 * Meredith Grey was born in 1978.
 * Izzie Stevens was born in 1980.
 * George O'Malley was born in 1980.
 * April Kepner was born in 1982
 * Ellis Grey tried to commit suicide in the spring of 1983
 * Maggie Pierce was born and given up for adoption in 1983.
 * Lexie Grey was born in 1984.
 * Heather Parker was born in 1984.
 * Dell Parker was born in 1986.
 * Leah Murphy was born in 1987.
 * Ellis Grey won her first Harper Avery Award in 1988.
 * Preston Burke was a cardiothoracic surgical fellow at Seattle Grace Hospital in 1999.
 * Anna Wilder died at the age of 40 in 2001.
 * Season One begins in 2004 or later (most likely 2006).

Grey's Anatomy Season 1

 * Seasons 1-3 take up a year and is reflected in the summer and autumnal weather of Season 1.
 * Seasons 1-3, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex are 1st year surgical interns and in the first year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey is in her fourth year of surgical residency. Torres is also in her fourth year of residency, but in her third year of ortho residency, as confirmed later in Season 6 by The Time Warp.
 * A Hard Day's Night takes place on July 1 to 3, as the intern's 48 hour shift starts in the morning July 1. The new interns always start on that date.
 * The first season roughly spans 2 months.
 * Derek moved to Seattle 6 weeks before the second episode.
 * Shake Your Groove Thing the Chief says Mrs. Drake was operated on in 1999 and later says the towel was in her for five years, making the year 2004 (but the following season implies it is acutally 2006)
 * The First Cut Is the Deepest finished roughly at 6pm.
 * The First Cut Is the Deepest lasts about 2 days.
 * If Tomorrow Never Comes takes place at least one month after Shake Your Groove Thing, as Meredith gets banned from the OR in the latter episode, and is allowed in the OR again in the former.
 * Save Me takes place before the 16th of the month it takes place in.

Grey's Anatomy Season 2

 * Seasons 1-3 take up a year and is reflected in the winter like weather and mention of holidays of Season 2.
 * Seasons 1-3, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex are 1st year surgical interns and in the first year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey is in her fourth year of surgical residency. Torres is also in her fourth year of residency, but in her third year of ortho residency, as confirmed later in Season 6 by The Time Warp.
 * Season 2 starts minutes after season 1.
 * Season 2 takes place over December 2006 and January 2007.
 * Joe has owned the Emerald City Bar for more than 14 years as of Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
 * Enough is Enough takes place one day after Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head.
 * Make Me Lose Control takes place one week after Enough is Enough.
 * When Cristina had her surgery for ectopic pregnancy the OR Board said she was 28.
 * Miranda Bailey is pregnant and gives birth in the course of nine months.
 * Thanks for the Memories takes place on November 23, 2006.
 * Owner of a Lonely Heart takes place a few hours after Much too Much, and in 2006.
 * Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer takes place on December 25, 2006.
 * Begin the Begin takes place in early January 2007.
 * Break on Through takes place 10 days after Tell Me Sweet Little Lies.
 * Izzie Stevens was 27 years old in Break on Through.
 * It's the End of the World and As We Know It, respectively, are direct continuations of each other. They take place two weeks after Tell Me Sweet Little Lies, and thereby 4 days after Break on Through.

Grey's Anatomy Season 3

 * Seasons 1-3 take up a year and is reflected in the spring and summer like weather of Season 3.
 * Seasons 1-3, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex are 1st year surgical interns and in the first year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey is in her fourth year of surgical residency. Torres is also in her fourth year of residency, but in her third year of ortho residency, as confirmed later in Season 6 by The Time Warp.
 * Six Days, Part 2 takes place one day after Six Days, Part 1.
 * Callie puts Izzie on "Georgewatch 2007" in Great Expectations.
 * The time between Great Expectations and Wishin' and Hopin' is roughly 8 days.
 * Walk on Water, Drowning on Dry Land and Some Kind of Miracle, respectively, are direct continuations of each other.
 * Larry Jennings was admitted to Seattle Grace in Desire, shortly before May 18, 2007.
 * Testing 1-2-3 takes place approximately two weeks after Desire, so around June 1, 2007.
 * Didn't We Almost Have It All? takes place one day after Testing 1-2-3, around June 2, 2007. (This is inconsistent with the timeline as stated in A Change is Gonna Come, which would put Didn't We Almost Have It All? on June 13 or 14.)
 * Addison is 39 in the season 3 finale.
 * Nearing the end of Season 3, it is the year 2007.

Grey's Anatomy Season 4

 * Seasons 4-5 make up a year.
 * Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex are in their second year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey is in her fifth year of surgical residency. Torres is also in her fifth year of residency, but in her fourth and final year of ortho residency.
 * Lexie is in her first year of residency.
 * There is a 17 day gap between season 3 and 4.
 * A Change is Gonna Come takes place on July 1 (the first day for new interns).
 * Haunt You Every Day takes place on October 31, as it is Halloween.
 * Lay Your Hands on Me takes place the day after Crash Into Me, Part 1 and Crash Into Me, Part 2.
 * There is a five week gap between Lay Your Hands on Me and Where the Wild Things Are. (Many episode descriptions state that it has been six weeks, but Meredith Grey tells Dr. Wyatt that it has been five weeks since she and Derek broke up.)
 * There is a one month gap between Where the Wild Things Are and Piece of My Heart.

Grey's Anatomy Season 5

 * Seasons 4-5 make up a year.
 * Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, George, and Alex are in their second year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey is in her fifth year of surgical residency. Torres is also in her fifth year of residency, but in her fourth and final year of ortho residency.
 * Lexie is in her first year of residency.
 * Some of Season 5 takes place in October.
 * Dream a Little Dream of Me, Part 1 took place from roughly 4:15pm.
 * Dream a Little Dream of Me, Part 2 finished roughly at 2:30am.
 * There's No 'I' in Team takes place in October.
 * Life During Wartime takes place a week after There's No 'I' in Team.
 * Lexie is 24 in Season 5.
 * In Wish You Were Here, Izzie celebrated her 29th birthday. The episode thereby takes place on January 5, 2009.
 * Wish You Were Here, Sympathy for the Devil, and Stairway to Heaven, respectively, are direct continuations of each other.
 * The Grey's Anatomy episode Beat Your Heart Out runs in parallel with the Private Practice episode Acceptance.
 * Beat Your Heart Out/Acceptance, Before and After, Ex-Life, and An Honest Mistake, respectively, are direct continuations of each other.
 * Elevator Love Letter takes place around March 26, 2009.
 * What a Difference a Day Makes takes place on May 14, 2009.
 * When Izzie wakes up in Now or Never, she claims it is 2009.
 * George dies June 10 or June 11, 2009 as Bailey is an attending 21 days after his death, and Lexie mentions she becomes a resident the next day. In Beat Your Heart Out, it is established that a residency (and thereby attending as well) year begins July 1 of the current year and ends in June 30 the following year.

Grey's Anatomy Season 6

 * Good Mourning takes place within minutes of the season 5 finale.
 * The events of Good Mourning and Goodbye take place over forty days, starting with the day of George's death (from Jun 10 or 11 to Jul 20 or 21, 2009).
 * Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, and Alex are in their third year of their surgical residency.
 * The Mercy West residents (i.e. Jackson, April, Charles, and Reed) are also in their third year.
 * Lexie and her class are in their second year of surgical residency.
 * Invasion is the first part of Private Practice's Right Here, Right Now.
 * Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital was established in 2009.
 * Bailey and Torres are attending surgeons in general and ortho surgery, respectively.
 * Izzie was born May 1st, 1980 (but it could also be Alex's birthday. Since the date was only on their divorce papers, without a significant name behind the date)
 * Blink is the first part of the Private Practice's Another Second Chance.
 * Valentine's Day Massacre takes place on February 14, 2010.

Grey's Anatomy Season 7

 * Meredith, Cristina, Alex, Jackson, and April are in their fourth year of their surgical residency.
 * Lexie is in her third year of surgical residency and 27.
 * With You I'm Born Again takes place 2 months after season 6 finale.
 * Superfreak starts 2 weeks after Cristina has a breakdown in the OR in Shock to the System.
 * These Arms of Mine spans about a month and begins around September 13, 2010, as seen on a security camera image. Thereby, the episode ends in mid-October. Additionally, the documentary also gives information about events that took place within the week after the last images that were shot.
 * Adrift and at Peace takes place around Christmas, thus December 25, 2010.
 * Golden Hour takes place in February.
 * Not Responsible takes place a few weeks after Golden Hour.
 * This is How We Do It takes place one month after Not Responsible, and according to the dates shown in It's a Long Way Back somewhere early in March.
 * Song Beneath the Song takes place on May 2011.
 * Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres was born in May 2011.
 * Private Practice's The Hardest Part runs parallel to Song Beneath the Song.
 * It's a Long Way Back spans 11 weeks, from Sofia Torres's first week of life to her twelfth. The first day in the episode is March 11, 2011. Four weeks and two days later, the monitor displays March 4, 2011.
 * White Wedding takes place 3 months after Song Beneath the Song, and about 1 week after It's a Long Way Back.

Grey's Anatomy Season 8

 * Meredith, Cristina, Alex, Jackson, and April are in their fifth year of their surgical residency.
 * Lexie is in her fourth year of surgical residency.
 * Free Falling takes place on July 1, 2011, as it's the first day of the fifth year for Meredith and her fellow residents.
 * Poker Face spans 3 days.
 * Heart-Shaped Box, Dark Was the Night, and Suddenly, respectively, are direct continuations of each other. They take place around January 14, as Teddy mentions in All You Need is Love (which takes place a month after these episodes) that Henry died one month ago.
 * Suddenly takes place on November 1, 2011.
 * Hope for the Hopeless takes place four months after She's Gone, and thus somewhere in November 2011.
 * All You Need is Love takes place on February 14, 2012, as it is Valentine's Day.
 * Have You Seen Me Lately? is part one of Private Practice's You Break My Heart.
 * The Lion Sleeps Tonight takes place one week after One Step Too Far.
 * Support System takes place a few weeks after The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and the flashbacks shown in the episode take place one day after Have You Seen Me Lately?.
 * Moment of Truth takes place on May 4, 2012 and May 5, 2012.
 * Let the Bad Times Roll takes place on May 5, 2012.
 * The plane crash takes place on mid-May.

Grey's Anatomy Season 9

 * Meredith, Cristina, Alex, Jackson, and April have completed their residencies, with Meredith and April becoming surgical attendings in general and trauma, respectively, and Cristina, Alex, and Jackson becoming surgical fellows in cardio, peds, and plastics, respectively.
 * Mark Sloan died in 2012.
 * Going, Going, Gone runs parallel with Private Practice's Mourning Sickness.
 * Some of Remember the Time takes place on August 1, 2012.
 * I Was Made for Lovin' You takes place on December 10, 2012.
 * Run, Baby, Run takes place five months after Remember the Time and a couple of days after Love Turns You Upside Down.
 * Hard Bargain takes place one week after Bad Blood.
 * This is Why We Fight takes place one week after Hard Bargain.
 * Idle Hands takes place 25 weeks after I Was Made for Lovin' You, as Meredith has been pregnant for 28 weeks.
 * Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital was established in 2013.
 * Do You Believe in Magic takes place on May 1, 2013.
 * Readiness is All directly follows after Do You Believe in Magic, so it takes place on May 1 and 2, 2013.
 * Perfect Storm is a direct continuation of Readiness is All.

Grey's Anatomy Season 10

 * The season 10 premiere immediately follows the season 9 finale.
 * Everybody's Crying Mercy takes place about one week after I Want You With Me, which is sometime in mid to late June as April has already taken her boards and waiting for the results, and the interns are studying for their intern exam.
 * Map of You takes place about one week after I Bet It Stung, which would be on or around July 1, 2013 as Jo, Leah, Stephanie, and Shane have just passed their intern exam and been issued their embroidered lab coats making them second year residents. According to Arizona's text from Leah, the intern exam occurred two days before this episode.
 * As of Map of You, Meredith and April are in their second year as surgical attendings in general and trauma, respectively; Cristina, Alex, and Jackson are in their second and final year as surgical fellows in cardio, peds, and plastics, respectively.
 * Thriller takes place on October 31, 2013.
 * Heather Brooks died three months before Halloween.
 * Stephanie Edwards underwent corrective eye surgery 16 hours prior to Halloween.
 * Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word spans five months, showcasing flashbacks from before Readiness is All to after Thriller.
 * Callie is 38 as of Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word.
 * Somebody That I Used to Know takes place a few days after Two Against One and around November 21, 2013, as it takes place about a week before Thanksgiving.
 * Man on the Moon takes place less than three months after Puttin' on the Ritz.
 * Get Up, Stand Up takes place in 2013, as shown on the butterfly boxes at the wedding.
 * The beginning of Take It Back is a direct continuation of Get Up, Stand Up. The rest of the episode takes place three weeks later.
 * You Be Illin' takes place in April 2014, as shown on a behind the scenes photo of a used prop.
 * I'm Winning takes place two weeks after You Be Illin'.
 * The Harper Avery Award banquet 2014 will be performed ​​in mid-April 2014.
 * According to on-screen documents and several monitors, Change of Heart takes place on March 19, 2014.
 * We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together takes place partially on April 26, 2014 and mainly on May 1, 2014, the air date of the episode.

Grey's Anatomy Season 11

 * Jo, Stephanie, and Ben are in their third year of their surgical residency; She's Leaving Home is set during their fourth year, and in Time Stops, they begin their fifth year.
 * Alex Karev and Jackson Avery have completed their fellowships.
 * Could We Start Again, Please? starts the day after Don't Let's Start.
 * Risk takes place on November 13, 2014.
 * Where Do We Go From Here takes place on November 14, 2014.
 * Samuel Norbert Avery was born and died in winter of 2015.
 * The Distance starts on March 2, 2015 and spans a couple of days.
 * The flashbacks shown in One Flight Down take place shortly before the start of Crazy Love.
 * How to Save a Life takes place on March 26, 2015.
 * Derek died on March 26, 2015.
 * She's Leaving Home runs from March 2015 to February 2016. During this time, Meredith, Alex, Miranda, Callie, April, and Jackson obtain their F.A.C.S. designation.
 * Ellis Shepherd was born in January 2016.
 * Since in the episode Time Stops a new group of interns starts their residency at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, the episode is supposed to take place on July 1, 2016.
 * Richard and Catherine got married in July 2016.

Grey's Anatomy Season 12

 * Sledgehammer takes place in early October, three months after Richard and Catherine's wedding.
 * Andrew, Isaac, Audrey, and Mitchell are first year surgical interns and in their first year of their surgical residency.
 * Jo, Stephanie, and Ben are in their fifth year of their surgical residency.
 * Bailey was named Chief of Surgery in October 2016, becoming the first female in the hospital to get it.
 * I Choose You takes place one week after Walking Tall, and spans a couple of days.

Private Practice Season 1

 * Runs in parallel with Grey's Anatomy Season 4.
 * Violet reveals that she has fantasies of Bill Clinton leaving his wife for her in 2010.

Private Practice Season 2

 * Runs in parallel with Grey's Anatomy Season 5.
 * Betsey Parker is 6 years old in Season 2, and Dell claims she was conceived when he was 17, making Dell about 23 or 24 years old.
 * The Grey's Anatomy episode Beat Your Heart Out runs in parallel with the Private Practice episode Acceptance.
 * Beat Your Heart Out/Acceptance, Before and After, Ex-Life and An Honest Mistake, respectively, are direct continuations of each other.
 * Finishing takes place over 3 months.

Private Practice, Season 3

 * A Death in the Family takes place minutes after Season 2's finale.
 * The Way We Were takes place a month after A Death in the Family.
 * Runs parallel to Grey's Anatomy season 6.
 * Another Second Chance is the second part of Grey's Anatomy's Blink.
 * Right Here, Right Now is the second part of Grey's Anatomy's Invasion.
 * Fear of Flying to Eyes Wide Open are over a course of two months. (As mentioned in Second Choices)
 * Heather Parker died in 2009.
 * Dell Parker died in 2010.

Private Practice, Season 4

 * In Take Two, Amelia Shepherd mentions Derek getting shot.
 * The season runs parallel to Grey's Anatomy season 7.
 * Short Cuts takes place before Grey's Anatomy's Superfreak.
 * Playing God takes place on October 5, 2010, as seen on Charlotte's phone.
 * All in the Family takes place a couple of days before and on Halloween, thus October 31, 2010.
 * The Grey's Anatomy episode Song Beneath the Song runs parallel to The Hardest Part.

Private Practice, Season 5

 * Runs parallel to Grey's Anatomy Season 8.
 * Grey's Anatomy episode Have You Seen Me Lately? is part one of You Break My Heart.
 * God Laughs takes place minutes after ...To Change the Things I Can.
 * Breaking the Rules takes place one month after God Laughs.

Private Practice, Season 6

 * Addison receives Derek's message about Mark Sloan's death in Mourning Sickness, meaning it runs parallel with Going, Going, Gone.
 * The World According to Jake spans 2 weeks and a couple of days, and the beginning of the episode takes place 4 weeks after You Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone.
 * Vivian Carlsmith died in 2013 at age 74 in Apron Strings.
 * Apron Strings takes place over 8 months.
 * Life Support spans at least 14 weeks of Charlotte's pregnancy, as marked by the fruits and veggies indicating 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 18 weeks, 19 weeks, 20 weeks, 22 weeks, 24 weeks, and 26 weeks.

Errors
During the initial years of the show, the year set was never formally mentioned, however, as the show progressed, time frames began to be mentioned in the show, leading to continuity errors throughout the series, such as: