Grey's Anatomy

As much as I enjoy watching the antics of the doctors on Grey's Anatomy, every Thursday when it's on, I count my lucky stars that Seattle Grace Hospital is purely fictional.

Our favorite four residents at Seattle Grace were in the midst of a resident competition in last night's episode. For two weeks, they lived at the hospital, fighting over surgeries and scoring points for each procedure they get to do. But actually, they should just give up because they are all horrible doctors. None of them even saw fit to examine Jennifer (Clea Duvall), whose scalp was hanging on by a thread. Here's a tip, doctors: If someone is bleeding, examine them!

As George (T.R. Knight) said at the end of the episode, "Great doctors, they know when to stop." This statement leads to the conclusion that Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) is a horrible doctor. Seriously! I'm not even talking about the whole LVAD-wire-cutting debacle, although now that I mention it, couldn't she have just, you know, unplugged it instead of putting a pair of scissors to it?

Anyway, back to last night's Grey's Anatomy. Guest star Cheech Marin's character comes into the hospital for a sprained ankle, and has the misfortune of being assigned to Izzie. She goes on to perform $120,000 worth of unnecessary medical tests and other painful procedures, scaring the crap out of him in the process. This, by itself, is pretty bad, especially considering that she ends up finding out that he only has the flu and just needs to rest. But what's worse is that none of her superiors thought to reprimand her. She didn't even get a slap on the wrist. All she got was a "keep on trucking"-type pep talk from the Chief (James Pickens Jr.). If he's lenient about this kind of behavior, what else is falling through the cracks in the surgical department? Or in the internal medicine department, because all of the work-ups that Izzie was conducting should have been done by an internal medicine, not surgical, resident. I suppose if they can look the other way and let her continue practicing medicine after the LVAD, then hey, she should be able to do whatever the hell she wants.

Meredith exhibits shockingly unsympathetic bedside manner when she throws up her arms and cheers, "Tumor!" in front of her patient and his wife, which is just unconscionable. What's more, she tells them about the tumor before even running any tests. If she did run the tests and found that he doesn't have a tumor, then she would have put him through enormous emotional distress all for naught. That reminds me of "The Wall," written by the French existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre. The short story follows a condemned prisoner the night before he is about to face the firing squad. The prisoner decides to save his own life by giving up false information on his comrade, but he lost all of his humanity after spending the night anticipating his death. Does Meredith want to inflict this kind of fate on her patient?

Meredith's saving grace was that at least she was right about her diagnosis. And I have to admit that her "Tumor!" cheer was hilarious. I had to rewind and watch that part over several times, and even now, as I type the word "Tumor!" I just have to chuckle. And she does prove herself to be at least a theoretically caring doctor by the end of the episode when she starts a clinical study to help patients with brain tumors.

Out of the Fab Four residents on Grey's Anatomy, the only doctor I would like treating me is Cristina (Sandra Oh). I'm ruling out Alex (Justin Chambers), even though he makes for some sweet eye-candy, because, well, he's kind of a slacker. I'd really like my surgeon to be awake and alert while operating on me, so I'll just have to settle for meeting him for drinks at the Emerald City Bar after hours instead. But Cristina is robotic, unemotional, highly-skilled and incredibly competent. Her only weakness is her need to suck up to authority. But as long as Hahn (Brooke Smith) isn't around, then I think I'd be in good hands under Cristina's care.



-Debbie Chang, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of ABC)