Template:Infobox Character
Theodora 'Teddy' Altman Burton is an old friend of Owen Hunt from the military and an attending cardiothoracic surgeon at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. In the Season Eight finale, Owen fires Teddy from Seattle Grace hospital, and she will leave the show for good in Season Nine
Notable Relationships
Owen Hunt
Owen and Teddy met while they both were army surgeons. Owen brings her to Seattle Grace-Mercy West as a present for Cristina, claiming her to be a "cardio goddess", and Teddy later works out that Owen brought her as a present for his girlfriend, appearing more surprised by the fact Cristina was his girlfriend. She later would admit that she believed that if Owen broke up with his fiancé, Beth, he would have called her. (GA: New History)
Cristina Yang
Initially excited at the prospects of a new cardio attending, Cristina becomes very disappointed when she learns that Teddy has not inserted a pacing wire for about 10 years and begins to constantly question her abilities and skills as a surgeon after her concerned 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. (GA: New History)
Mark Sloan
Dr. Sloan asked Teddy out in the episode Push, but she declined.
Finally, she accepted and they have sex in the end of the episode 18 Suicide is Painless(GA: Push)
In the episode 19 Sympathy for the Parents, Teddy and Mark moved on.
Henry Burton
Teddy first met Henry in the episode ‘Adrift at Peace’. Henry was a patient who had Von Hippel-Lindau disease (making tumors grow on rich blood supply areas) and could no longer afford to have insurance. Then Teddy stepped in and said she would marry him and he could have her insurance. In the episodes that follow, their friendship blossom and Henry develops a crush on Teddy, but she says that it's just a good story. In the season 7 finale Teddy tells him that she is falling in love with him and the two of them kiss. In the episode ‘She's Gone’ Teddy and Henry are now together, and Henry had to visit the hospital. During his stay Teddy acts like a mess around the hospital. In the episode ‘Heart Shaped Box’ Henry tells Teddy that he wants to go to medical school but Teddy doesn't want him to go. At the end of the episode Teddy tries to make up with Henry only to find him coughing up blood in the sink. In the next episode it is discovered that Henry has a tumor on his lung and needs surgery, Teddy wants him to have the laser surgery but Webber refuses so they get Cristina to do it. During the surgery they end up cutting him open anyway as complications arise. Once they open him up, they find that there is no chance of saving Henry and he starts to code, Webber steps in to do CPR but after 20 minutes it's a lost cause and he stops, so Henry then dies. Webber tells Owen not to tell Teddy as she is in surgery as then they would lose another patient, so Owen gives in and lies to Teddy saying her husband survived. At the end of the episode Teddy still doesn't know that her husband is dead. Finally, after the surgery Christina tells her about what happened. After she demanded to see him and she broke in tears.
Career
Dr. Altman attended UT Southwestern (University of Texas Southwestern Medical School), completing her surgical residency at George Washington University Medical Center and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.(GA: New History)
Working previously at Columbia (presumably Columbia University Medical Centre 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.(GA: New History)
Trivia
- Teddy has birds on her scrub cap, which Owen has revealed that Teddy's best friend loved birds who died during the collapse of the second tower. (GA: New History)