Teddy Altman


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Teddy Altman is an old friend of Owen Hunt from the military and an attending cardiothoracic surgeon at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital

<--== Childhood and growing up ==-->

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 fiancé, Beth, he would have called her. (GA: New History)

Cristina Yang
Initially excited at the prospects of a new cardio attending, Cristina becomes very disappointed when she learns that Teddy has not inserted a pacing wire for about 10 years and begins to constantly question her abilities and skills as a surgeon after her concerned are ignored by Bailey and the Chief. 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. (GA: New History)

Career
Dr. Altman attended UT Southwestern (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. (GA: New History)

Working previously at Columbia (presumably [http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/ Columbia University Medical Centre) 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. (GA: New History)

Trivia

 * Teddy has birds on her scrub cap, which Owen has revealed that Teddy's best friend loved birds who died during the collapse of the second tower. (GA: New History)