Arizona Robbins in the navy blue scrubs worn by the attendings
An attending physician or surgeon is a doctor who has completed residency and practices medicine in a clinic or hospital, in the specialty learned during residency. An attending can supervise fellows, residents and medical students. Attendings may also have an academic title at an affiliated university such as "professor". Attendings have the final responsibility–legally and otherwise–for patient care, even when many decisions are made by other doctors.
Quick Answers
What is the role of an attending physician in Grey's Anatomy?
An attending in Grey's Anatomy is a fully qualified doctor who has finished residency and practices in a hospital or clinic. They specialize in a field they studied during residency. They oversee fellows, residents, and medical students. They are ultimately responsible for patient care, legally and otherwise.
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When does Meredith Grey become an attending physician?
Meredith became an attending between the end of season eight and the start of season nine. Season nine started with her already working as an attending general surgeon.
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What is the hierarchy of doctors in Grey's Anatomy?
Doctors start their training as interns. After a year, they become residents. Following residency, they can either take a fellowship or become attending surgeons. Surgeons in a department are led by a department head. Above all the surgeons in the hospital is the Chief of Surgery.
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What is the difference between an attending surgeon and a resident in Grey's Anatomy?
In Grey's Anatomy, a resident is a post-graduate doctor practicing under the supervision of fully-licensed physicians after receiving their medical degree. An attending, however, is a doctor who has completed their residency and practices in their specialty. They supervise fellows, residents, and medical students and bear the ultimate responsibility for patient care.
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Department Head[]
An attending can also be the head of a department. A head is also known as a department chief. As the department head/chief, they are the senior-most physician or surgeon of a specialized service within a hospital. They generally supervise other attendings working within their service and are responsible for all medical and surgical staff within their department.
The following list only contains the department heads who work at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and/or have worked at Seattle Grace Hospital and/or Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.
Current Heads[]
- Dr. Winston Ndugu (Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery)
- Dr. Amelia Shepherd (Head of Neurosurgery)
- Dr. Jennifer Stanley (Head of Pathology)
- Dr. Tim Redmond (Head of Dermatology)
- Dr. Don Heller (Head of Anesthesiology)
- Dr. Rob Stanton (Head of Radiology)
- Dr. Kate Lachman (Head of OB/GYN)
- Dr. Atticus Lincoln (Head of Orthopedic Surgery)
- Dr. Michelle Lin (Head of Plastic Surgery and ENT Attending)
- Dr. Owen Hunt (Head of Trauma Surgery and Trauma Center)
Former Heads[]
- Dr. Preston Burke (former Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery)
- Dr. Addison Montgomery (former Head of Neonatal Surgery, former Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Maternal-Fetal Attending, and Medical Genetics Attending)
- Dr. Erica Hahn (former Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery)
- Dr. Mark Sloan (former Head of Plastic Surgery and former ENT Attending)
- Dr. Jim Nelson (former interim Head of Neurosurgery)
- Dr. Teddy Altman (former Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery and former Head of Trauma Surgery)
- Dr. Robert Stark (former Head of Pediatric Surgery)
- Dr. Jeff Russell (former Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery)
- Dr. Derek Shepherd (former Head of Neurosurgery)
- Dr. Nicole Herman (former Head of Fetal Surgery)
- Dr. Chang (former Head of Orthopedic Surgery)
- Dr. Jordan Kenly (former Head of Pediatric Surgery)
- Dr. Callie Torres (former Head of Orthopedic Surgery)
- Dr. April Kepner (former interim Head of General Surgery)
- Dr. T. Thomas (former Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology)
- Dr. Arizona Robbins (former Head of Fetal Surgery and former Head of Pediatric Surgery)
- Dr. Alex Karev (former Head of Pediatric Surgery)
- Dr. Jackson Avery (former Head of Plastic Surgery and ENT Attending)
- Dr. Cormac Hayes (former Head of Pediatric Surgery)
- Dr. Meredith Grey (former head of General Surgery)
- Dr. Maggie Pierce (former head of Cardiothoracic Surgery)
Known Attendings[]
The following list only contains the attendings who work at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital and/or have worked at Seattle Grace Hospital and/or Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. Department heads are also attending surgeons, but since they have already been mentioned above, they are not included in this list.
Current Attendings[]
- Dr. Miranda Bailey (General Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Richard Webber (General Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Jo Wilson (General Surgery Attending OB/GYN Resident )
- Dr. Hudson (Anesthesiology Attending)
- Dr. Norman Russo (OB/GYN Attending)
- Dr. Raj Sen (Psychiatry Attending)
- Dr. Catherine Fox (Urology Attending)
- Dr. Hundley (OB/GYN Attending)
- Dr. Lynne Cohen (Surgical Oncology Attending)
- Dr. Carina DeLuca (OB/GYN Attending)
- Dr. Elizabeth Chen (OB/GYN Attending)
- Dr. Rebecca Swender (Surgical Oncology Attending)
- Dr. Walter Carr (Psychiatry Attending)
- Dr. Olivia Fowler (Psychiatry Attending)
- Dr. Monica Beltran (Pediatric Surgery Attending)
Former Attendings[]
- Dr. Lucy Fields (former OB/GYN Attending and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellow)
- Dr. Margaret Campbell (retired General Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Cristina Yang (former Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellow)
- Dr. Ben Warren (former Anesthesiology Attending)
- Dr. Eliza Minnick (Sports Medicine Orthopedic Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Nathan Riggs (Cardiothoracic Surgery Attending)
- Dr. April Kepner (Trauma Surgery Attending)*
- Dr. Andrew DeLuca (General Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Tom Koracick (Neurosurgery Attending)
- Dr. Lee Wong (General Surgery Attending)
- Dr. Nico Kim (Orthopedic Surgery Attending)
Notes and Trivia[]
- Confirmed by her Twitter account, April Kepner is also the only sub-specialty attending, without the requirement of completing a trauma surgery fellowship.*
- Confirmed by @GreysMedical twitter account (10/02/2014): "Owen Hunt brought April Kepner back from the farm to mentor her in trauma so no formal fellowship."
- Confirmed by @GreysMedical twitter account (10/02/2014): "Jackson Avery is certified in both fields (Plastic and ENT), just like Mark!"
- The position of attending at a hospital is applied for, and not automatically granted after completion of residency or fellowship.
- It's common for attendings at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to have sex with interns and residents. Attendings who have done this are: Meredith Grey, Erica Hahn, Jo Wilson, Owen Hunt, Arizona Robbins, Callie Torres, Preston Burke, Addison Montgomery, Alex Karev, Mark Sloan, Derek Shepherd, Nicole Herman, Miranda Bailey, Jackson Avery, Lucy Fields, Cristina Yang, and Maggie Pierce. However, it should be noted that several of these people were in actual relationships with the people they slept with.
- Richard had intended Dr. Virginia Dixon to replace Erica Hahn as Seattle Grace's new head of cardio, but she turned down the offer.
- During the first two years of his surgical residency at UCLA, Dr. Ben Warren retained attending privileges when he consulted on surgical cases; however, he returned to the staff when he resigned from UCLA.
- Every department head has had a F.A.C.S., F.A.C.O.G., and/or F.A.A.D. designation. Callie Torres and Atticus Lincoln are the only exceptions.
- Jackson was promoted off-screen to the head of plastic surgery sometime after Walking Tall as he does not mention himself as a department head when Amelia, Maggie, Callie, Arizona, and Owen were pointed out as heads of their respective departments. He did, however, refer himself as the head of plastics in It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding).
- Alex was promoted off-screen to the head of pediatric surgery sometime after Walking Tall as he does not mention himself as a department head when Amelia, Maggie, Callie, Arizona, and Owen were pointed out as heads of their respective departments. Additionally, Alex was confirmed as the department head of pediatric surgery in the show's dialogue only after he was suspended and pending conviction. During Jukebox Hero, Minnick told Robbins and Murphy, "Apparently we need to hire a new peds surgery chief, since ours went up the river."