The season followed the continuation of the surgical residency of five young interns, as they experience the demands of the competitive field of medicine, which becomes defining in their personal evolution. Although set in fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, located in Seattle, Washington, filming primarily occurred in Los Angeles, California. Whereas the first season mainly focused on the impact the surgical field has on the main characters, and the second one provided a detailed perspective on the physicians' private lives, the third season deals with the tough challenges brought by the last phase of the surgeons' internship, combining the professional motif emphasized in the first season, with the complex personal background used in the second. Through the season, several new storylines are introduced, including the arrival of Dane's character, Dr. Mark Sloan, conceived and introduced as an antagonizing presence.
Meredith must make an important choice about which path she wants to follow to determine the future of her love life. While she considers her future she and others have flashbacks ...
Cristina meets Burke's parents, the interns try to get Izzie's job back, and Addison takes a day off, a surgical patient may be living her last day. Some of the interns want to kno...
The staff tries to prevent a patient from getting an elective surgery. Cristina tries to help Preston cope with the after effects of his surgery. A patient bails on their surgery. ...
Shawn Sullivan, a car salesman who just had surgery, wants to get back to his routine so he doesn't lose his renown. Addison works with a pregnant woman named Rebecca who may need ...
Derek learns one of Addison's secrets. Bailey talks about motherhood and depression to a mother who is set to have cancer surgery and who seems to not care about any decisions conc...
Cristina gets to scrub in on a rare surgery which incites envy. Alex questions his future in plastics. George and Addison work together with Noelle. Noelle is pregnant with twins b...
The men of Seattle Grace go on a camping trip together, Addison and Callie must team up to work on a patient, Meredith assists Sloan with a procedure unlike any she has experienced...
George's father has a serious heart problem that requires surgery and George chooses Burke to do the procedure. Burke doubts himself because he knows the pressure this kind of surg...
A traumatic car accident fills the ER. Izzie pushes the boundaries of her probation. Cristina has a crisis of conscience about her deceptive teamwork with Burke.
Recent events strain Burke and Cristina's relationship. Mark and Derek must work together when two close-knit brothers seek medical help. One of Meredith's half sisters is admitted...
Meredith discovers that Derek has a problem sleeping while her father comes to visit the hospital. George's father is moving from one surgery to another. A patient named Heather ch...
Cristina and Burke continue to play Uncle until one of them gives in. Derek and Meredith are fighting over the reason for their sleepless nights. Meredith tries to talk to her fath...
After the Chief announces his retirement, rumors begin to circulate on his departure and successor. Mark is determined to leave Seattle for good but Meredith accidentally has him s...
The race for the Chief's position is on, and the attending physicians, Derek, Burke, Addison and Mark, compete for Richard's affections by trying to help out everywhere possible. T...
A mass trauma situation, which turns out to be a ferryboat accident, challenges the whole staff of Seattle Grace Hospital. Richard finds difficulty in coping with his separation fr...
Meredith is still underwater, but nobody seems to notice. Her worsening condition makes her rescuing an urgent matter. Derek finds her coat on a man she had helped, and starts look...
Everyone is pushing for Meredith to survive, or in this case to be revived. People are still dealing with the fallout from the ferry disaster. A young man named Lucas is having pro...
The race between the attending physicians for the Chief of Surgery position heats up after a new competitor enters the fray. They soon realize that the new surgeon, Colin Marlow, w...
In the aftermath of Izzie's affair with George, he doesn't seem to remember anything. Callie lets him know that they will be having dinner with her father, but George does not make...
Colin Marlow continues to try to get in the way of Cristina and Burke's relationship. The daughter that Izzie gave up for adoption needs something from her. This episode features a...
The attendings vie to be Chief. Two people who haven't slept together before, will. McSteamy's 60-day vow of chastity has a conclusion. We meet a boss, his assistant, and his wife....
Meredith works on her relationship with Susan and Thatcher. Cristina has to deal with her mother and Burke's. Alex continues to tend to Jane Doe/Ava. Meredith and Derek's relations...
Meredith works on her relationship with Susan and Thatcher. Cristina has to deal with her mother and Burke's. Alex continues to tend to Jane Doe/Ava. Meredith and Derek's relations...
The interns finally take their first year medical exams, the biggest test of their careers, and one of them is ill-prepared. Callie grows more suspicious of George and Izzie. The d...
The mountain climbers lie about the axe in their friend's head, telling Derek that it accidentally got there. During surgery, he and George discover that it was deliberately put th...