Monica Beltran is an attending pediatric surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
History[]
First Day[]
Monica got a job at Grey Sloan Memorial. On her first day, as she waited to park, she answered a text and looked up to find the spot she had been waiting for had been taken by Amelia Shepherd. When she made it inside, she arrived at a consult on Malan Vasconcellos, who had five previous shunts for congenital hydrocephalus. Malan's mom didn't want her to have another shunt placed only to have it fail again, so Monica said they'd do the tests and then make a decision from there. When tests confirmed that Malan's shunt wasn't working, Amelia said she'd replace it. Monica, remembering Maria-Flor's request, suggested endoscopic ventriculostomy instead. Amelia said it wouldn't work, but Monica asked her to take a minute. Amelia came back to Monica later to say she'd figured out a way to have a computer program guide her, allowing her to take the safest possible route through Malan's brain. Monica was pleased and said Amelia was better when she took a minute.
When they were scrubbing in, Benson asked if he would watch the surgery, even though he wasn't allowed to scrub in. Monica sent him to sit with Malan's mom instead. The surgery went well and afterward, Monica told Benson that he had disrespected Malan's mother by scoffing at her bringing her daughter in because she wasn't acting like herself. She said that being a good pediatric surgeon also meant interacting well with their families. She told him she'd requested him on her service for the next day. ("Walk on the Ocean")
Adjusting to Grey Sloan[]
Monica talked to Amelia and learned that her fetal embolization had been cancelled because the mom got spooked and Monica said it was a spooky surgery. It being the baby's best chance didn't change the fact that it was terrifying for the parents. At the end of the day, when Monica overheard Amelia talking about Lucas Adams, Amelia explained that Lucas is her nephew and also was living with her and had borrowed her car. Monica said to cut him some slack because he had to live in Amelia's shadow and he couldn't even put in labs correctly. ("Baby Can I Hold You")
Levi came to Monica and said he'd turned in his application for a pediatric surgery fellowship. She forgot she was supposed to read over his personal statement. He asked if she would put in a good word for him. She asked him why he wanted to go into peds. When he explained, she said it wasn't good enough.
Monica worked on Misty Valentine, the daughter of some hospital benefactors. Monica was shocked by Catherine Fox's presence in the room and her insistence that things be done in exactly the way the Valentines wanted it. When Misty rejected Link's initial suggestion of residual limb revision, Catherine challenged them to think of something better. He then decided to implant a titanium rod in her femur, allowing them to connect the prosthesis directly, giving her more stability and less pain. Monica was opposed as she was still a child and therefore still growing, but Link said skeletally speaking, she was an adult and he'd done the surgery twice before. They took the proposal to Misty and after considering it, she decided she wanted it. In surgery, however, the rod placement wasn't exact, meaning it wouldn't work, so Link had to get her parents' permission to remove more of her femur to make it fit better. It was successful and Misty was told she'd ride her bike again.
Levi confronted Monica after the surgery, saying he'd done a good job and didn't understand why she wouldn't recommend him. She said he needed not to rely on external validation because when he had bad outcomes, he needed something else to sustain him.
That evening, Monica sat outside the hospital, playing a game on her phone. When Amelia found her, she said she'd lost a 3 month old in the NICU that morning and needed to disconnect. She asked Amelia to join her. ("The Marathon Continues")
Monica worked on Caroline Early, a trans girl who came from Texas with her mother so Caroline could be treated by an affirming doctor. Caroline ended up in a room with Emmy Chen, a patient who often butted heads with Monica. Later, Monica privately admitted to Amelia that Emmy was her favorite patient. She often had dinner in Emmy's room because Emmy's parents worked and had two other children, so she was often left alone at the hospital. ("Blood, Sweat and Tears")
Monica worked on the case of Mason Peterson, who was receiving a heart-lung transplant for idiopathic pulmonary hypertension. She was on the procurement team and then completed the transplant when Winston moved away to help Maggie repair his heart to transplant it into another patient. ("I Carry Your Heart")
After working with Levi Schmitt in the NICU, Monica agreed to recommend him for the fellowship pending his ABSITE results. ("Burn It Down")
When Monica worked with Levi after he'd received his ABSITE scores, he told her he knew he wouldn't be getting the peds fellowship. She said she was sorry, but he said he would find something else. Then they worked together on Cal Huang, who had Li-Fraumeni and was in the hospital with mid-back pain. A CT showed a large, benign tumor. Due to it's proximity to the spinal cord, Monica asked Amelia for a consult and together, they made a plan to put Cal on his side and enter from his chest and back at the same time to remove the tumor. This was successful despite some bleeding, but Cal became unstable after his surgery. Another scan showed a fast-growing, malignant brain tumor, meaning Cal would die. Monica ended the day by eating Chinese food with Amelia in the attendings' lounge and commiserating. ("Take Me to Church")
Helping Levi[]
When Monica learned that Friday Harbor had a patient, Ofelia Lopez, who had fallen off a moving tractor whose injuries were too severe for their hospital to handle, she sent Levi and Lucas to pick her up and bring her back to Grey Sloan. On their way back, they lost radio contact and Monica began to panic, especially after the patient's parents arrived at the hospital and questioned where she was and if she was safe. Amelia found Monica panicking and helped her calm down. Then Monica got a call and they were able to meet the ambulance that had arrived with Ofelia. Ofelia's surgery went well and they were able to avoid having to amputate her leg due to Levi using IV tubing to make a stent to allow her to get blood flow without bleeding out. Her parents were told she'd make a full recovery with physical therapy and likely another surgery. As she left the hospital, Monica found Amelia and thanked her for helping her calm down. ("You Make My Heart Explode")
Monica worked on Joni Filson, who had been injured when her boyfriend, Vaughn Bishop, fell off a scaffolding onto her. When Monica learned that Vaughn had been playing air guitar, she said it was sweet. Joni's pelvis was broken, so Link applied external fixation. After Joni was stable, Monica told Levi that Ofelia Lopez was being discharged, giving him the chance to say goodbye. ("Night Moves")
Relationships[]
Romantic[]
Amelia Shepherd[]
She is in the middle of a contentious divorce, so she turned down Amelia's request for a date. ("Blood, Sweat and Tears")
However, she later spent time commiserating with Amelia over Chinese food after having to tell a patient he was going to die. ("Take Me to Church") When Amelia saw Winston giving Monica red lingerie, she was quick to tell Amelia it wasn't what it looked like, that there was nothing serious between them. Amelia assured her it was fine and she didn't have to explain herself. When a helicopter carrying a patient lost contact with the hospital en route, Monica confided her guilt in Amelia, saying she had put the two doctors on the helicopter and dreaded having to tell their families that if they didn't make it. Amelia helped her calm down until they re-established contact and Monica thanked her for doing that. ("You Make My Heart Explode")
Winston Ndugu[]
After finalizing her divorce, she hooked up with Winston Ndugu, who had also just finalized his divorce. ("I Carry Your Heart") After a stressful day at work for both of them, they made plans to hook up again. ("Burn It Down") Later, Winston returned red lingerie to her, believing it was hers, only to learn it actually wasn't. ("You Make My Heart Explode")
Familial[]
Friendships[]
Professional[]
Career[]
She is an attending pediatric surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She attended medical school and completed her residency at the University of Pennsylvania and then moved to Texas to work at UT Medical Center before relocating to Seattle. ("Walk on the Ocean")
Notes and Trivia[]
- She hasn't been on vacation in three years.[1]
- She loves almond croissants.[2]
- She's scared of basements and forgetting her patients' parents' names.[2]
- She loves Tex-Mex.[3]
Gallery[]
Episodic[]
Episode Stills[]
Appearances[]
| Grey's Anatomy, Season 20 | |||||
| #01 | "We've Only Just Begun" | #05 | "Never Felt So Alone" | #09 | "I Carry Your Heart" |
| #02 | "Keep the Family Close" | #06 | "The Marathon Continues" | #10 | "Burn It Down" |
| #03 | "Walk on the Ocean" | #07 | "She Used to Be Mine" | ||
| #04 | "Baby Can I Hold You" | #08 | "Blood, Sweat and Tears" | ||
| Grey's Anatomy, Season 21 | |||||
| #01 | "If Walls Could Talk" | #07 | "If You Leave" | #13 | "21.13" |
| #02 | "Take Me to Church" | #08 | "Drop It Like It's Hot" | #14 | "21.14" |
| #03 | "I Can See Clearly Now" | #09 | "Hit the Floor" | #15 | "21.15" |
| #04 | "This One's for the Girls" | #10 | "21.10" | #16 | "21.16" |
| #05 | "You Make My Heart Explode" | #11 | "21.11" | #17 | "21.17" |
| #06 | "Night Moves" | #12 | "21.12" | #18 | "21.18" |
References[]
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