| Teddy Altman | |
|---|---|
| Grey's Anatomy character | |
Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman in 2010 |
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| First appearance | "New History" 6x09, November 12, 2009 (As recurring cast) "Sympathy for the Parents" 6x19, April 1, 2010 (As main cast) |
| Created by | Shonda Rhimes |
| Portrayed by | Kim Raver |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Attending cardiothoracic surgeon |
| Title | Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery M.D. F.A.C.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Henry Burton (deceased) |
| Significant other(s) | Andrew Perkins Mark Sloan |
Theodora "Teddy" Altman, is a fictional surgeon on the ABC television series Grey's Anatomy portrayed by actress Kim Raver. She is the new cardiothoracic surgeon at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.[1]
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Dr. Altman attended University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, completing her surgical residency at George Washington University Medical School and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. Working previously at Columbia 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. In episode 18 of the sixth season, "Suicide is Painless", more light is shed on the pre-Grey’s relationship of Teddy and Owen Hunt. While they had a fun, playful relationship, many of the officers were convinced of deeper feelings between the pair. When Owen’s unit was killed, and he was stranded in the desert, Teddy was one of the first on the scene. It was implied that she was heavily involved in the search for Owen.
Owen brings her to Seattle Grace-Mercy West as a present for Cristina Yang, claiming her to be a "cardio goddess". Teddy later figures out that Owen brought her as a present for his girlfriend, appearing more surprised by the fact Cristina was his girlfriend. Initially excited at the prospects of a new cardio attending, Cristina becomes very disappointed and begins to constantly question Dr. Altman's abilities and skills as a surgeon after her concerns 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.
After admitting that she is very much in love with Owen, he tells her that he loves Cristina. She then assigns Cristina to her first solo cardio case. In the OR, Cristina struggles with the surgery and Teddy refuses to help her. Cristina eventually succeeds in the surgery but Owen questions her underlying motives in assigning such a difficult surgery and refusing to assist when the patient was coding. She is left speechless and decides to leave Seattle Grace. Cristina chases after her, begging her to stay, asking her what it would take to keep her here. She responds that she wants Owen and Cristina blurts out that she can take him, but to stay and teach her. Teddy agrees to stay, but Owen tells Cristina that she can't just let him go. They remain as a couple. Teddy doesn't want Cristina on her service. However, Teddy begins to miss how well Cristina performed on her service.
Towards the middle of the series Teddy becomes good friends with Arizona Robbins.
In order to get over Owen, Arizona sets Teddy up with Mark Sloan. Teddy and Mark enjoy their relationship despite knowing that neither wants the other, they want Owen and Lexie respectively. Teddy and Mark break-up in "Shiny, Happy People", when Teddy walks in on Mark and Reed Adamson. She does not seem upset by this break-up due to the fact that they were never exclusive.
In episode 18, "Suicide is Painless", Teddy helps her patient to commit suicide, which is law in Washington State. However this creates tension with Owen Hunt who disagrees with Teddy helping to throw a woman’s life away.
Towards the end of the season, Teddy has to fight for her job as Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West. In ‘Hook, Line and Sinner’, Derek interviews other candidates for the position. Cristina asks Owen to put in a good word for Teddy; he does the opposite by telling Derek that she would land on her feet. Ultimately the other candidate refused to take the post and Teddy received a full time contract.
Throughout the season Owen Hunt was shown to be struggling with his feelings for Teddy despite his relationship with Cristina Yang. This comes to a head in "Shiny, Happy People" when Teddy finally learns that Owen betrayed her and tried to get Derek to give her job to another candidate. Teddy is shown to be hurt by Owen’s betrayal.
However in the season finale, "Sanctuary" and "Death and all his friends", Cristina Yang forces Owen to choose between herself and Teddy. Owen ultimately chooses Yang, understanding this Teddy helps Owen to get back into the hospital. Teddy is also shown to be an excellent teacher to Cristina Yang, and ultimately has equipped Cristina with the skills required to save the life of Derek Shepherd.
On the season seven's premiere, Teddy is over Owen and in a relationship with Dr. Andrew Perkins. In the second episode of the season Teddy worries that Andrew may not like her because she talks too much, but he tells her at the end of the episode that it does not bother him at all.
Later in the third episode, Dr. Perkins service with the hospital ends, handing over his remaining patients to Dr. Wyatt. This supposedly ends his relationship with Teddy, but not before saying that maybe the reason Teddy became attached, despite both intending to not become so, was because she falls for people whom are either otherwise engaged or only in town for a month.
In the fourth episode Jackson Avery flirts with Teddy, but she rejects him. She tells him that he has the potential to be a great doctor, but he does not need to flirt to get ahead in life.
In episode 10, she meets Henry Burton, a patient with the rare genetic condition Von Hippel-Lindau disease who can no longer afford to pay for his medical care. Teddy marries him in the following episode so that he can use her health insurance. She only comes to appreciate the gravity of this decision in the next episode, when Henry suffers a near fatal complication of his illness. Teddy discovers that he has listed her as his emergency contact and is forced to make a life-or-death decision regarding his care, not as his doctor but as his wife. Though the newly-weds both maintain that theirs is a simple marriage of convenience, and Teddy continues to date men other than Henry, there are hints that they have deeper feelings for each other. While high on painkillers, Henry confesses his feelings for Teddy, but she tells him she doesn't feel the same way.
In the episode "Song Beneath the Song," Teddy tells Cristina that she can no longer teach her after Cristina does a surgery on Callie Torres that she opposed. Teddy clarifies her reasoning to Owen in "White Wedding" when she says that Cristina is 'dangerous' at the moment and overly confident, that she 'got lucky' with Callie. She asks Owen if Cristina could handle possibly killing Callie Torres or someone else and tells him that she'll keep Cristina off her service until she feels Cristina is ready to return. Later in the episode Teddy's on and off boyfriend Andrew Perkins returns and asks her to go with him to Germany and work at a hospital there. Teddy tells Henry Burton that she decided to go to Germany with Dr. Perkins, which prompts Burton to ask a divorce from Teddy. She agrees and implies Burton does not need her any longer because he has his old job back and his own insurance. In the season finale Teddy decides against her earlier decision to go to Germany along with Dr. Perkins and decides to stay back with Henry. She tells Henry that he is her husband and has started to fall in love with him.
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