Grey Sloan's Head Of Neurosurgery Amelia Shepherd has appeared in the parent show and two of its spinoffs, making her a crucial cog in the Anatomy wheel. Her career journey has been an interesting one as audiences have seen her hop from Oceanside Wellness Group to Seaside Health and Wellness to St. Ambrose Hospital.
However, Grey Sloan has always been the place where she feels most comfortable. Amelia has also had complicated relationships with characters such as Owen Hunt, James Petterson, and Atticus Lincoln. Her story arcs are well known but some of the little details about her are easy to miss, given her lengthy stay on the show.
Her Favorite Scrub Nurse
Though she has appeared in every season of Grey's Anatomy, Bokhee rarely speaks. This doesn't prevent people from liking her. She just happens to be Amelia's favorite scrub nurse. Amelia confesses this in Season 11's "The Distance" as she performs a critical surgery on Dr. Herman while other doctors watch from the gallery.
Bokhee has been present during several critical surgeries such as when Cristina operated on Derek after the hospital shooting. Like Bailey, she also prefers to stand on stools during surgeries.
She Is Multilingual
Amelia can speak fluent German. This detail emerges when Megan is taken to a hospital in Germany after she is found in an abandoned house's basement. Amelia calls the hospital and converses with the receptionist in German. She requests for Teddy who had moved to Germany and was now working at the hospital. Teddy promises to Amelia that Megan will be transferred to Grey Sloan.
Amelia also knows a little French. As soon as she wakes up from her surgery in Season 14's "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," she begins speaking French instead of English, much to the surprise of her colleagues. Meredith clarifies that this is because everyone in Derek's family learned French in pre-school.
Her Surgery Success Rate
Amelia becomes depressed when she finds out she has a tumor. She also begins wondering whether the people who told her she was was crazy were right all along. She implies that maybe the tumor made her crazy.
Dr. Richard Webber pulls her aside and offers her a word of encouragement. He tells her that he has checked her files and ever since she came to Grey Sloan, only 0.9% of her patients have died. He adds that her success rate is even better than her brother Derek's since 1.3% of his patients died after surgery.
She Is Not Double-Board Certified
There's a bit of confusion regarding Amelia's certification. Since she completed her surgical residency before her neurosurgery fellowship, Amelia is board-certified in General Surgery.
However, since Neurosurgery is a specialty that falls under General Surgery, Amelia doesn't have "Double-Board Certification." In order to achieve double-board certification, a doctor needs to be board certified in a sub-specialty first before being board certified in General Surgery.
How She Got Rid Of A Phobia
During one of her surgeries, Amelia sympathizes with a patient and recalls how she once had Ligyrophobia. She developed the condition as a child after her father was shot by two burglars for refusing to give them a watch. The sound of the gun made her afraid of all the loud noises.
She eventually got over her Ligyrophobia by purchasing hundred of firecrackers and setting them off until she got used to the noise. After that exercise, loud sounds never troubled her anymore.
She Is Right-Handed
Fun turns into pain for Amelia when she slips and falls while dancing at a bar in Season 5's "God Laughs." Things get worse for her when broken glass cuts her hand when her body hits the floor.
When Pete is brought to the hospital after suffering from a heart attack, a couple of doctors are skeptical about Amelia performing surgery on him since she hurt her hand badly. Amelia argues that she can still manage to do her job well since the damage was to her left arm and her right hand can still function fine.
Some Conditions Need To Be Met Before She Can Sleep
Amelia needs to floss before going to bed. Otherwise, she won't be able to get sleep. She explains this to Owen in Season 13's "Civil War." He is surprised to see her back at the hospital but she tells him she is just there to get some floss. She adds that she has to floss every evening for a long night's sleep.
The Head Of Neurosurgery also relies on classical music to help her get some sleep. She has been seen playing classical tunes on a couple of occasions before going to bed.
She Has Quite The Academic Record
After getting fired by Dr. Ginsberg, Amelia approaches Naomi Bennet and asks her to give her a job at the Oceanside Wellness Group. And she is nothing but humble when tabling her request.
Amelia tells Naomi that it's in her best interest to hire her because she has all specialists except a neurosurgeon. She also lets Naomi know that she is a kick-ass, world-class doctor who graduated top of her class in Havard and published enough research papers to wipe out dozens of forests.
Her Teenage Nickname
Amelia has been given a couple of nicknames during her time on the show. These include Houdini and Shepherdess. Most of her nicknames are easy to miss since they don't get mentioned a lot.
Apparently, Amelia was so wild during her teenage years that she earned herself the nickname "Hurricane Amelia." She also became a drug addict after taking pills offered to her by a friend. After overdosing one day, she became clinically dead for about 3 minutes but Derek saved her life. The experience made her change her ways.
She Has A Special Way Of Making Decisions
Owen and Amelia decide to hang around Betty's school after dropping her off in Season 15's "Everyday Angel." This is because Amelia is worried that Betty is just like her when she was younger. Apparently, Amelia used to escape from school to go do drugs.
Owen suggests that they should leave but Amelia insists that her paper fortune teller says they should stick around, She also lets Owen know that she has relied on a paper fortune teller to make important decisions in life, including which college to attend.