10 Grey’s Anatomy Doctors That Almost Quit Medicine After Losing A Patient

It will come as no surprise to devout viewers that more than a few Grey’s Anatomy doctors have almost quit medicine after losing a patient. While Grey Sloan Memorial may face a perpetual staffing shortage, the hospital is never short on drama — or life-altering moments. Across 19 seasons, the team has weathered plenty of tragedy, both personally and professionally, leading some doctors to (almost) call it quits.

From Derek Shepherd’s (Patrick Dempsey) memorable season 5 loss to Addison Montgomery’s (Kate Walsh) more recent grappling with reproductive health justice, Grey’s Anatomy continuously pushes its doctors to their breaking points. Although former series lead Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) has stepped away from the spotlight, it’s clear that the record-breaking medical drama will keep challenging its doctors in Grey’s Anatomy season 20 — suggesting it’s not always a great day to save lives.

10Derek Shepherd

“There’s this thing that happens when people find out you’re a doctor. They stop seeing you as a person and begin to see you as something bigger than you are,” Meredith explains in the opening voiceover of Grey’s Anatomy season 5 episode 16. “They have to see us that way, as gods, otherwise we’re just like everyone else.” And “An Honest Mistake” shows that even renowned neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd makes life-altering blunders.

After Derek causes a series of complications during a pregnant patient’s first surgery, he argues with Addison Montgomery about the best course of action for Jen, who experiences mini-strokes and aphasia. Addison warns Derek about playing god, but he continually dismisses her recommended C-section. Instead, Derek removes large chunks of Jen’s brain in a frenzy, determined to save mother and child. Jen’s eventual death marks the start of Derek’s depressive episode, causing him to question both his career and pending proposal to Meredith.

9Levi Schmitt

During Grey’s Anatomy season 18, Grey Sloan Memorial grapples with (another) staffing shortage. This time, however, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on healthcare workers is to blame. In order to alleviate the hiring stress, allow for an adequate number of surgeries, and give residents more OR time, Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) proposes a new approach to how the residency program operates: the Webber Method.

In theory, the Webber Method sanctions residents to perform unsupervised routine procedures (or parts of surgeries) and then pulls an attending into the OR to handle the trickier parts. Miranda Bailey’s (Chandra Wilson) misgivings are proven true when Levi Schmitt (Jake Borelli) chooses to proceed without an attending. Levi’s patient bleeds out, leading to an investigation of the residency program. However, after leaving the hospital for a time, Dr. Schmitt returns as Chief Resident on Grey’s Anatomy.

8Maggie Pierce

Much like her sister, Meredith, cardiothoracic surgery prodigy Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) has experienced exceptional losses. Shortly after Maggie loses her mother to breast cancer, she and Jackson Avery (Jesse Williams) break up, leading to some complicated family dynamics between the two and their now-married parents, Richard and Catherine (Debbie Allen). To get through it all, Maggie focuses on surgery — and that’s when she meets her cousin, Sabrina “Sabi” Webber (Crystal McCreary).

Sabi is Richard’s niece — someone he never mentioned to Maggie because of the bad blood between him and his brother, Sabi’s father Chris. After forming a fast friendship with Sabi, Maggie hopes to repair the brothers’ relationship and encourages her to go through with surgery, even though Chris has reservations. When Sabrina codes suddenly, Maggie rushes to save her, but an alarming number of clots clog Sabi’s bypass machine. After losing Sabi, an inconsolable Maggie quits — and, to top it off, Chris sues her for medical malpractice.

7Izzie Stevens

When Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) falls for Denny Duquette Jr. (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), it isn’t the first (or last) time a doctor embarks on a rather inappropriate relationship. Diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy, Denny is admitted to the hospital ahead of a heart transplant procedure. It’s Izzie, the resident Denny has flirted with during his stay, who tells him the operation won’t happen. Later, though, Denny returns — this time in heart failure.

After Denny stabilizes, Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) decides to insert an LVAD — a device that replaces part of a failing heart — in order to give Denny more time while awaiting a new heart donation. When yet another organ donor falls through, Izzie claims Denny is worsening and cuts his LVAD wire to further fool UNOS. While this bit of malpractice does secure Denny a new heart, he dies of a post-op stroke. Although the loss wrecks Izzie, she opens a clinic in Denny’s memory. Even though Izzie rebounds, she probably should’ve been forced to quit medicine.

6Jackson Avery

In season 15’s “With a Wonder and a Wild Desire,” Jackson tells Maggie he’s fine with April Kepner’s (Sarah Drew) new and sudden marriage; to him, April’s abrupt choice is tied to her faith, something he’s come to admire. Distracted, Jackson is almost hit by a car, but Andrew DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) pulls him out of harm’s way. Bike rider Nisha is hit instead, convincing a very driven Jackson to believe he was spared in order to save Nisha’s life.

Although Nisha’s first surgery goes well, complications arise in the following episode. Without waiting for Link (Chris Carmack), the patient’s primary surgeon, a purpose-driven Jackson rushes Nisha to the hospital’s new hyperbaric chamber. Believing the oxygen-rich environment will produce a better surgical outcome, Jackson disregards the fact that, once pressurized, the chamber can’t be immediately opened. After Nisha flatlines, an outraged Jackson performs CPR for 35 minutes. This incident is one of many that pushes Jackson to step back from surgery briefly.

5Ben Warren

Jason George is one of several Station 19 actors who appeared on Grey’s Anatomy before the firehouse-set series debuted. A key crossover character, the fire-fighting Ben Warren once worked at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, even becoming a medical resident. During his residency, Ben makes some ill-advised decisions; he fashions a makeshift scalpel out of a clipboard for an emergency surgery, thus inflating his ego and putting his superiors on high alert.

A few episodes later, the hospital is on lockdown, and Ben performs what he deems to be a necessary emergency C-section. Using the meager crash cart supplies he has access to in a hospital hallway, Ben considers himself a hero. Bailey and Webber, meanwhile, deem him reckless; security footage reveals an open elevator, meaning Ben took an unnecessary risk. Although Ben doesn’t lose his license, these events are a kind of breaking point that pushes him to pursue an entirely new career.

4Miranda Bailey

A beloved mentor, top-notch surgeon, and, more often than not, the glue holding Grey Sloan together, Miranda Bailey isn’t one to quit anything. Still, a few Grey’s Anatomy moments have pushed Bailey to her limits. Notably, in season 9, three of Bailey’s patients develop post-op infections, which alarms the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enough for a full investigation of the hospital.

After the CDC’s findings suggest that Bailey was contaminated with MRSA, thus leading to the three post-op fatalities, Bailey goes into shock. Evidently, the hospital’s replacement stock of surgical gloves contributed to the transmission, since they were full of micro-tears. Even so, Bailey tests herself repeatedly for MRSA and refuses to operate. The incident also triggers her latent (and then-undiagnosed) obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), making a return to the OR even more difficult.

3Taryn Helm

For many seasons, fans have been asking Grey’s Anatomy to do Taryn Helm justice; Jaicy Elliot’s resident-turned-bartender has been solely defined by her unrequited crush on Meredith Grey. But when Grey’s Anatomy decided to cover the real-world impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers, Helm’s story expanded a bit. With elective surgeries on hold, Helm and the other residents were tasked with caring for COVID patients, which took a real toll on her.

Not only was Helm’s idol, Meredith, in a COVID-induced coma, but the hospital was experiencing unprecedented losses every day. Feeling isolated and exhausted, Helm expressed her desire to step away from the medical world. Eventually, the temporary closure of Grey Sloan’s residency program made the decision for her. While the end of season 19 sees Helm returning to the OR, it’s clear that the untold pandemic losses shaped her, both personally and professionally.

2Addison Montgomery

In recent seasons, Grey’s Anatomy proved time and again that it wasn’t afraid to tackle difficult real-world subjects. Season 19 episode 5 is one such example: Addison returns to Grey’s Anatomy and joins Bailey on a trip. The self-described “medical Thelma and Louise” visit a friend of Bailey’s who runs an understaffed family-planning clinic on the Washington-Idaho border. In Idaho, abortion services have become illegal, leading to an influx of patients in the neighboring clinic.

“When I Get to the Border” takes another turn when Susan, a pregnant woman living in Idaho, can’t access the care she so desperately needs. Bailey and Addison drive across state lines to retrieve Susan, who’s faced with a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy that all of her Idaho-based doctors are too nervous to help with, given the state’s restrictive new laws. When Susan starts bleeding out in the car, Addison can’t save her. An exasperated Addison seems thoroughly defeated at first, but the momentary despair turns into new resolve.

1Penelope Blake

When Patrick Dempsey’s Derek was killed off in Grey’s Anatomy season 11, McDreamy’s tragic death almost ended more than one medical career. Following a series of car accidents, Derek is brought to Seattle’s Dillard Medical Center, and then-resident Penelope Blake is a member of his care team. While Penny wants to order a head CT, her superior argues that Derek needs immediate surgery to control his abdominal bleeding, even when he stabilizes on the way to the OR.

Although Penny fights for the head CT — and Derek’s life — she, ultimately, gives in. Later, it takes Dillard’s neurosurgeon an inordinate amount of time to arrive; he suggests a head CT would’ve gotten him there sooner, only augmenting Penny’s guilt and frustration. When Derek dies in one of Grey’s Anatomy‘s most shocking twists, Meredith tells a broken Penny that, although she’ll never forget Derek, Penny can’t stop being a surgeon because of one outcome. Although both Penny and Meredith continue to practice medicine, losing Derek pushes Meredith to leave Grey Sloan — and her life — for a year.

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