The series' protagonist and title character is Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who is accepted into the residency program at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital. She joins the program as an intern and is assigned to work under their resident Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), along with fellow interns an extremely competitive Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), an insecure Dr. George O'Malley (T. R. Knight), ex model Dr. Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), and an arrogant Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers). The surgical wing is primarily supervised by the Chief of Surgery Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.). Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) is the head of Cardio surgery. Meredith is in a romantic relationship with her attending Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) a stranger she had a one-night stand with, and is the daughter of the renowned surgeon Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), who now suffers from Alzheimer's.