While enrolled in a demanding residency program, Meredith Grey and four other first-year surgical interns try to balance life and work at Seattle Grace Hospital.
The interns are guided by an established team of doctors who are determined to either shape them into skilled surgeons or break them: Miranda Bailey, a senior resident responsible for training them, is so tough that she's nicknamed "The Nazi"; Derek Shepherd is the flirtatious but very capable surgeon who shares a forbidden but undeniable sexual attraction with Meredith; Preston Burke's arrogance is second only to his skill with a scalpel. Overseeing them all is Dr. Richard Webber, Seattle Grace's paternal, but no-nonsense chief of surgery.