Jo Karev

Josephine "Jo" Wilson is a surgical resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Early Life
At two weeks old, Jo Wilson was left by her mother at a fire station. She was shuffled among numerous foster homes until age 16, when she began living independently out of her car. Her teacher, Ms. Schmitt, would let her into the school building early to do laundry. Jo worked furiously to get through school, graduating as high school valedictorian and moving on to Princeton University, graduating cum laude. Wilson attended Harvard Medical School, where she graduated at the top of her class. Wilson confessed to Alex Karev that Ms. Schmitt was the only person who supported her by saying, "[at graduation], I had one person: Ms. Schmitt."

Becoming an Intern
Jo started her internship at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital shortly after the plane crash. She quickly learned, along with the other interns, to fear Meredith Grey, dubbing her Medusa. Meredith was put in charge of choosing an intern for the intern appy and she chose Jo. In surgery, Jo froze as expected when she ripped the cecum after removed the appendix and Meredith had to finish the surgery.

When she was found crying by Owen after the surgery, he told her not to stand in the hallway and cry, to cry somewhere else where he didn't have to see her. He explained to her that the intern appy is designed for her to fail and it sets her as the example. She then asked why Meredith was so mean. She knew that Meredith had been in a plane crash and wondered if that was why. Owen replied that Meredith isn't mean; she's strong. ("Going, Going, Gone")

When she wanted to scrub in on a surgery, she flirted with Callie to try to make it happen. However, Callie pointed out that Jo looked terrified that Callie might take her up on that offer, meaning she probably isn't into ladies. Callie told her not to trade sex for scrubbing in because that's skanky, to save it for actually getting to cut. Then she sent her to go suck up to Alex instead. He said no and when he saw her watching from the gallery, he sent her away. Later, when he scolded her for charting when she hadn't scheduled a consult for him, she began to cry, freaking him out. He invited her to scrub in on a surgery with him. ("Love the One You're With")

Relationship with Jason
Jo and the other interns started referring to Jason as "Chest Peckwell." Alex took an immediate distaste to him, even going so far as to gang up with a patient and Dr. Webber to prank him, to which Jason responded with a snide comment about "nailing Jo in the bathroom."

Getting Together with Alex
After their first kiss, Alex and Jo went to an on-call room to make out. Alex wanted to wait to do it at his house, but Jo reminded him that there was a tree in his house and removed her scrub top. They continued kissing until Jo asked them if he had sex with Heather and Leah in that particular room. He confirmed, but Jo decided she could move past this and they continued kissing. He got paged, and she asked him to ignore his page. This made her think about dead people so they gave up. They went to the ER to help out treating the storm victims, which was impeded by the fact that they were all low on supplies and that the electric charts were still down. Meanwhile, she and the other interns also waited for news on Heather, who was being operated on. In a supply closet, Jo talked to Alex about her fear that Heather would die, only ending up to start kissing him again. However, it turned out Alex also had had sex with other interns in that closet, so Jo decided it wasn't going to happen there and left. ("Seal Our Fate")

After Heather's death, the mourning interns, who got the night off, decided they would all wait together for Heather's mother to arrive, as none of them wanted to do it on their own. They started looking for kind Heather stories to tell Maura and decided to look for Derek to hear about her talent for neurosurgery, but Meredith told them the mother wouldn't care about that and told them the story that she told George's mother back when he had died. Jo then met Alex in a lounge and told him that she and the others apparently weren't a tight group. They joked a little about the future of their relationship and he gave her a bottle of liquor that would help her and the others to come up with stories. Jo went to her fellow interns in the dressing room, where they started drinking. They realized that they knew nothing about each other, despite all the time they spent together. They decided to play circle of trust, during which Jo revealed to have been a street kid. Not long after, Maura Brooks arrived, and they stole Meredith's story. They then sat with her until Derek arrived to tell her what happened to Heather. Early in the morning, Derek met with the interns in the ER waiting room and thanked them for having stayed with Maura. He told them to go home, but Shane decided to ride out with the firefighters to the mudslide instead. Jo, Stephanie and Leah declared him crazy, but suddenly Stephanie stood up too and gave a speech that made it clear to Leah and Jo that they should stick together. Jo and Leah then got up too, and followed Stephanie and Shane to the ambulance bay to ride out to the mudslide with the firefighters. ("I Want You With Me")

Jason Myers
Jo had a crush on Jason when she started working at Seatle Grace Mercy West Hospital. Jo and the other interns gave Jason the nickname of Chest Peckwell. Eventually, Jo and Jason began a romantic relationship. However, Jason and Alex constantly butted heads over allegations that Alex had feelings for Jo. Alex would inform Jason of Jo's troubled past, causing an argument. During that argument, Jason physically harmed Jo, causing her to move out and end the relationship. It was later revealed that Jo nearly killed Jason when she fought back, even to the extent of a brain bleed. He demanded to see the police, but was convinced otherwise after being threatened by Alex.

Alex Karev
Shortly after first meeting her and telling her that he likes "chicks with boy names," Jo assured Alex that as he had already slept with all of her friends, she wasn't interested in him. ("Love the One You're With")

Alex Karev frequently referred to Jo Wilson as "princess" due to her so-called 'prissy' manners and attitude. She revealed to Alex her past life difficulties and the two became close friends after bonding at Bailey's wedding. They got along very well and they often drank together. However, they hit a snag when Jo began dating Jason Myers. After a huge fight between Jo and Jason, Jo revealed to Alex that Jason had hit her during the argument. Alex admitted to Cristina that he loved Jo, but that he was scared to tell her because of past failed realatonships. During the super storm, Alex finally admitted to Jo that he loved her and the couple shared a kiss. Since then, they have been dating. They hit a bit of a rocky patch when Alex's dad came into the hospital from a car crash related to drugs. Alex asked Jo to do a paternity test and he said he didn't want to know at the same time she said "he's your father." Alex then proceeded to stalk his father at bars where he was performing. When Alex didn't come home for 3 nights in a row, Jo got worried. He then told her what was happening and they worked it out.

When Alex's father returned to the hospital going through withdrawal, Jo tried to handle him, but found herself in over her head. Alex told her it wasn't her fault and that he'd been this way his whole life. At April's wedding, Alex told Jo that they would be together forever and were the only family each other needs. He said that if they do have kids, they will be great parents and will not need anyone else then share a passionate kiss. When Alex called Jo his fiancée, she told him that she didn't realize his speech at the wedding was a proposal and that she was not walking out on him, but she wasn't ready for marriage. She comforted Alex when his dad died.

When Leah issued a complaint to HR, the non-fratinization rule was put in place, forbidding unmarried couples of different authority levels to continue seeing each other. Alex and Jo faked a fight in front of the hospital, allowing them to believe they broke up while secretly staying together. Meredith gave Alex a love contract for them both to sign so they could continue working and seeing each other without getting into trouble. When Jo refused to sign it, Alex assured her that it wasn't a scary document to anything. She can't count on him because anything could happen at any minute. The contract just made it so that he could kiss her when he wants to. She signed and they shared a kiss. When Alex was offered a new job at a pediatric private practice, he sought Jo's advice and she was very supportive of him. She told him that working two jobs made him like a double agent which is very sexy. Alex took the job and Jo was very proud of him, telling him he'll do great.

Friendships
Jo gets along well with all of the attendings, but she is especially close with Stephanie Edwards and the other surgical residents.

Career
Dr. Wilson graduated cum laude from Princeton University and Harvard Medical School. She obtained a spot at the most wanted residency-match, Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital's surgical program.

Dr. Wilson was named by Meredith Grey as the most promising intern, and was thus awarded the first surgery of the rotation, which is in fact given to interns they think will fail. As expected, she did fail to complete the surgery and while crying about it, Dr. Owen Hunt informed her that it was an exercise meant to be a learning experience. The surgery is "designed" for the chosen intern to fail to set an example for the other interns.

When Richard Webber asked Meredith to choose one of the residents to assist with the surgery on him, Jo Wilson was selected.

After assisting Dr. Torres in a surgery, Jo was caught in the backlash as Callie was sued for malpractice.

When a patient in the E.R. broke his arm due to a tetanic contraction, Jo scrubbed in with Callie on his fracture repair. She discovered a love of ortho, and has since been scrubbing in with Callie often.

Notes and Trivia

 * Jo dressed up as Tinkerbell for Halloween.
 * Jo frequently used Heather's deodorant without telling her.
 * Jo is allergic to wool.
 * As a teenager, Jo lived in her car.
 * Jo is very good at math.
 * Counting Jason, Jo has put a total of three men in the hospital.
 * She hates cats and she also hates beaches.
 * Jo sends out her laundry.
 * She has some anger problems.
 * Jo has been in jail before, and fears that if she loses her job as a doctor she will end up there again.