As resident surgeon, Miranda Bailey’s job is to make life hell for the interns, a duty she carries out to perfection. “You are bottom of the surgical food chain and better get used to it,” she tells them on their first day.

Sharp tongued and quick witted, Miranda Bailey takes no messing and no excuses for poor performance. She’s dedicated to her work and although she’s a firm believer in respecting authority, she’s not afraid to speak her mind when she believes her seniors have made a mistake.

Surgical intern Meredith Grey is passionate, talented and destined for the top. As the daughter of Ellis Grey – one of Seattle’s most respected surgeons – she has great expectation to live up to.

But her focus and dedication is tested when her mother is stricken with Alzheimer’s, a burden that she struggles to keep separate from her work. And when she “accidentally” falls into bed with Sheppard, a senior surgeon, she worries that she’s crossed a dangerous line.

With a tendency towards the melodramatic, Meredith Grey is also a little too forthcoming with advice for patients when it’s unwarranted.

Intern Izzy Stevens will go out of her way to accommodate a patient’s needs, even if it means risking her own career. She works hard and is determined to prove herself and her capabilities. But when a series of photos of her in sexy underwear – taken to fund her through college – are printed in a magazine for all her colleagues and patients to see, she fears she will be judged for all the wrong reasons.

Willowy and beautiful, Izzy Stevens has a debilitating effect on men and is used to having to overcompensate.

But a lack of self-confidence begins to emerge, something she will need to control if she’s going to make it to surgical resident.