Teddy Altman

Theodora 'Teddy' Altman is an old friend of Owen Hunt from the military and former head of cardiothoracic surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. In the season eight finale, Owen fires Teddy from Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.

Military Service
Teddy joined the army as a surgeon following 9/11 and the death of her best friend. In the army, Teddy worked closely with Owen Hunt. They soon became best friends.

Arrival at the Hospital
Owen Hunt convinced Teddy to come work in Seattle, saying it was a great hospital with a great staff and equipment. At first, Teddy was surprised by all the equipment, compared to the equipment she had back in Iraq. She was also very pleased with the fact that it rained a lot in Seattle, as it almost never rains in the desert, where she previously worked.

Soon after her arrival, she met Cristina Yang, whom she called one of the best residents she had ever seen. It didn't take her long to find out that Owen brought her to Seattle to please his girlfriend, who hadn't have a cardiogod since Erica Hahn left the hospital. However, Teddy wasn't mad about it and said she would just enjoy the things Owen would do to make it up to her. Cristina didn't believe in Teddy's skills, as she wasn't able to insert a pacing wire.

Mark Sloan
Dr. Sloan asked Teddy out in the episode Push, but she declined. Eventually, she accepts and they have sex in the end of the episode Suicide is Painless. In the following episode, Sympathy for the Parents, Teddy and Mark have moved on.

Henry Burton
Henry was a patient who had Von Hippel-Lindau disease (making tumors grow on rich blood supply areas) and could no long afford insurance. Teddy met Henry in an elevator in the hospital, where Henry asked her if he would have chance when he asked his girlfriend to marry him. Teddy told him his girlfriend would be a fool to say no. She later bumped into him again, and he informed her his girlfriend said no. He then revealed that he primarely asked her because of her insurance. Teddy then offered to marry him, as she had a great insurance as a surgeon.

After their marriage, Henry enlists Teddy as his emergency contact person, because he didn't have any friends or family left. Henry developed real feelings for Teddy, but he decided not to tell her. She started dating, and they discussed her dates over the food she always brought home for him. However, when Teddy started a relationship with Andrew Perkins for the second time, Henry couldn't keep his feeling still anymore. He told her how he felt, which made her doubt about her relationship with Andrew. Right before she would leave for Germany with Perkins, she choose Henry over Andrew and kissed Henry.

In the episode Heart Shaped Box, Henry tells Teddy that he wants to go to medical school, but Teddy doesn't want him to go. At the end of the episode, Teddy tries to make up with Henry, and finds him coughing up blood. Henry has a tumor on his lung and needs surgery. When Cristina and Richard open him up, they find that there is no chance of saving Henry and he starts to code. Webber steps in to do CPR, but after 20 minutes, it's a lost cause so he stops, and Henry dies. Webber tells Owen not to tell Teddy as she is in surgery, and then they would lose another patient, so Owen tells Teddy that Henry survived. Finally, after the surgery, Cristina tells her that her husband is dead. Teddy demanded to see him and then broke down in tears.

Owen Hunt
Owen and Teddy met while they both were army surgeons. Owen brings her to Seattle Grace-Mercy West as a present for Cristina, claiming her to be a "cardio goddess", and Teddy later works out that Owen brought her as a present for his girlfriend, appearing more surprised by the fact Cristina was his girlfriend. She later would admit that she believed that if Owen broke up with his fiancée, Beth, he would have called her.

Cristina Yang
Initially excited at the prospect of a new cardio attending, Cristina is disappointed when she learns that Teddy has not inserted a pacing wire for about 10 years and begins to constantly question her skills as a surgeon. However she becomes very impressed by Dr. Altman soon after diagnosing a child with cardiac asthma after only a brief exam and asking three questions, and when she opens him up and discovers he has a coronary artery to pulmonary artery fistula, which she repairs surgically and allows Cristina to first assist, allowing her to attach the coronary artery to the aorta. Following his removal from bypass, the patient goes into V-Fib and starts bleeding from the repair site. Dr. Altman remains extremely calm and talks Cristina through resolving the rhythm and repairing the site without rearresting the heart.

Career
Dr. Altman attended University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, completing her surgical residency at George Washington University Medical Center and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Working previously at Columbia (presumably Columbia University Medical Center) as an attending physician, Dr. Altman left her job following the death of her best friend, who was killed during the collapse of the second tower. Upon leaving her job, Dr. Altman joined the army and met Owen Hunt during her tour in Baghdad.

Notes and Trivia

 * Teddy has birds on her scrub cap. Owen revealed that Teddy's best friend loved birds and died during the collapse of the second world trade tower.
 * Teddy had plans to leave the hospital every season she appeared in. In season 8, she left for real.
 * In season 6, she almost left because she couldn't handle that Owen wasn't in love with her.
 * In season 7, she was planning on moving to Germany with Andrew Perkins, but stayed because Henry told her he was in love with her and she was starting to fall in love with him too.
 * In the season 8 finale, she was offered a job in the army, but refused to take it because she wanted to stay in Seattle to support Owen, as he was having a hard time. However, Owen didn't want her to miss the opportunity just because of him, and forced himself to fire her. After she was fired, Teddy was angry at first but relieved later, and she took the job, leaving Seattle Grace Mercy West.
 * Though she was part of the main cast from season 6 to season 8, season 7 is the only season in which she appears in every single episode. She first appeared in mid-season 6 and was only mentioned in the season 8 alternate reality episode If/Then.