James Chee is a surgical resident at Grey Sloan Memorial who started near the beginning of the pandemic.
History[]
Starting His Internship[]
Due to the growing Covid-19 pandemic, James and his fellow medical school graduates were sent to their residency programs earlier than the standard start date. They arrived on the first day and were welcomed reluctantly by Tom Koracick. James was assigned to do progress notes on the patients. He then left them tape and a marker to make name tags for themselves before leaving them.
After two hours of working on progress notes for patients, James hadn't even finished one, angering Karen, who was waiting for them. Tom stepped in and noted that his problem was that he kept putting, "Home and awaiting follow-up" for patients who had died. All the patients had died, which created an error. Tom fixed the problem and told James to carry on. ("My Happy Ending")
One day, James brought a patient into the hyperbaric chamber for wound therapy. Due to a busy schedule, his patient was scheduled for the same slot as Meredith. While they waited in the chamber, James asked Levi if Meredith was mean, as that's what he'd heard, but she got sick before he could work with her. Levi emphatically stated that she could be tough, but she was not mean. When James' patient started to wake up and eviscerated himself, Levi helped keep James calm and then pack his intestines back in. Then he had James call for the chamber to be depressurized so the patient could be moved back to the OR. ("Sign O' the Times")
James observed a laminectomy for a meningioma that Amelia was performing. Link was also in the gallery. When Amelia did her superhero pose before starting the surgery, James asked what she was doing and Link said she was preparing to crush it. ("Good as Hell")
During his days off, James volunteered at the urban Indian Health Clinic. Through his work there, he met William Lawrence. He treated William for COVID, but William later returned to the clinic having what appeared to be a stroke. James accompanied him to the hospital where the stroke was confirmed and he had a thrombectomy. After his thrombectomy, James went to his room and used some traditional medicine for William. ("Tradition")
Gerlie Bernardo[]
When Meredith took over the residency program at the hospital, she cancelled grand rounds in favor of having the residents shadow her on Gerlie's case, as she suffered through multiple post-COVID complications.
In January, James was able to get his first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine along with the rest of the hospital staff. Meredith also had the residents still working on Gerlie's case, specifically trying to get Bailey to put Gerlie on the list for a double lung transplant. Finally, Bailey agreed and in April 2021, Gerlie got her lungs. ("Someone Saved My Life Tonight")
Surgical Contest[]
In order to inspire the residents and help them catch up on their surgical education, Richard had them all come in early one morning to start a surgical contest starting in the skills lab. He explained that they'd be judge in four areas: laparascopic, suturing, vascular skills, and endoscopic techniques. At the end of the day, the resident with the highest score would scrub in on a surgery at their skill level. They started with laparascopic skills. After that, they practiced sutures. He gave them 20 seconds to tie three square knots without moving the soda can where the ties were attached. When the time was up, Link declared Levi the winner. They also used a computer came to practice endoscopic skills, with Mabel beating Taryn when they went head-to-head. After that finished, with all points tallied, Richard declared Levi the overall winner and said he'd get to scrub in on Robin Jeter, who had a foreign body obstructing her intestines.
The extraction went well, with Taryn assisting, but when he went to close, he struggled. Bailey turned on the speaker in the gallery, where the other residents were watching, and they all offered up tips and with their help, Levi was able to finish the surgery and close. ("Some Kind of Tomorrow")
Grand Rounds[]
The residents were told they'd have a surprise guest for grand rounds one day. Right before it started, they learned that guest was Addison Forbes Montgomery. When they met, she quizzed Levi on a medical fact related to her case and when he got it right, told him he'd be presenting the case. She then took them to meet Tovah Freedman, who had had a hysterectomy due to placental abruption and then had lost her husband. She was there in the hopes that a uterine transplant could help her conceive and carry a healthy pregnancy. The residents all observed the surgery and answered questions as Addison asked them until the HVAC system went offline and some of them were called away to help move patients and cancel surgeries. Despite this, Addison completed her surgery and afterward, the residents followed Meredith and Addison and continued their gossip. When they saw them exiting the elevator with Addison crying, they assumed Meredith had said something to make her cry. ("Hotter Than Hell")
The Webber Method[]
Wanting to train up the residents quickly to avoid some of the fallout of the physician shortage, Richard deployed The Webber Method when he took back over as residency director. This involved having the residents take the lead on several cholecystectomy patients, operating on a staggered schedule so the attending could rotate through ORs to be available to help during the most complicated part of the surgery. Taryn faced a complication when her patient began bleeding profusely, forcing her to convert to an open procedure, but, with Bailey's help, she was able to finish the surgery successfully. In total, 13 patients were treated using this method. ("With a Little Help From My Friends")
Career[]
He is a surgical Resident at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic during his intern year, he and the rest of his residency class are behind a year of surgical education and is taking accelerated surgical courses under the direction of Dr. Webber.
Notes and Trivia[]
- He is Diné (Navajo).
- He comes from a family of healers.[1]
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
Grey's Anatomy, Season 17 | |||||
#01 | "All Tomorrow's Parties" | #07 | "Helplessly Hoping" | #13 | "Good as Hell" |
#02 | "The Center Won't Hold" | #08 | "It's All Too Much" | #14 | "Look Up Child" |
#03 | "My Happy Ending" | #09 | "In My Life" | #15 | "Tradition" |
#04 | "You'll Never Walk Alone" | #10 | "Breathe" | #16 | "I'm Still Standing" |
#05 | "Fight the Power" | #11 | "Sorry Doesn't Always Make It Right" | #17 | "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" |
#06 | "No Time for Despair" | #12 | "Sign O' the Times" |
Grey's Anatomy, Season 18 | |||||
#01 | "Here Comes the Sun" | #08 | "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" | #15 | "Put It to the Test" |
#02 | "Some Kind of Tomorrow" | #09 | "No Time to Die" | #16 | "Should I Stay or Should I Go" |
#03 | "Hotter Than Hell" | #10 | "Living In a House Divided" | #17 | "I'll Cover You" |
#04 | "With a Little Help From My Friends" | #11 | "Legacy" | #18 | "Stronger Than Hate" |
#05 | "Bottle Up and Explode!" | #12 | "The Makings of You" | #19 | "Out for Blood" |
#06 | "Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)" | #13 | "Put the Squeeze On Me" | #20 | "You Are the Blood" |
#07 | "Today Was a Fairytale" | #14 | "Road Trippin'" |