Warning! SPOILERS about Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 6 ahead.

Summary

• Schmitt's practical choice of pediatric surgery lacks passion, and it already encountered strong opposition.
• Previous residents like Karev show choosing a specialty for convenience doesn't work out in the long run.
• Beltran's advice highlights the importance of passion in sustaining a doctor through tough outcomes, which could be greatly beneficial for Schmitt considering his past.

The events of Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 6 negatively affected Schmitt’s specialty choice, but the medical drama has already highlighted why his choice is wrong in the past. Becoming known as “Glasses” while an intern because he dropped his inside a patient and dropping out of the residency program after he killed a patient not having followed the Webber Method precisely, Schmitt’s surgery journey has been all but straightforward. However, Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 3 revealed Schmitt had decided on which specialty to pursue, despite not applying immediately as he feared he would have been rejected.

With Grey’s Anatomy’s defining characteristic compared to other medical dramas being its focus on interns and residents, choosing a specialty had always been a central storyline for its residents. While some always knew what they wanted, like Cristina and her passion for cardiothoracic surgery, and others would have rather chosen any other specialty except for the one that made their mother famous before capitulating like Meredith, other residents needed time to realize which specialty to pursue. However, one story in particular already showed that residents making a calculating choice about the specialty rarely if never, worked in Grey’s Anatomy.

Schmitt Didn't Choose Peds Because He Likes It (But Because It's Convenient)

Schmitt's Wrong Reasons Are What Convinced Beltran Not To Put A Good Word For Him

Although Levi and Jo’s exchange in Grey’s Anatomy season 20, episode 3 established pediatric surgery as his choice for which he didn’t feel good enough, hinting that his reasons for it could have been deeply felt, that wasn’t exactly the case. Indeed, when Dr. Monica Beltran put Schmitt on the spot, asking him why, he only offered sensible reasons, but nothing that could have suggested a passion for the specialty. Beltran’s explanation highlighted how passion could have been the only thing that would sustain him in case of negative outcomes, and Schmitt quitting in the past already proved her right.

Schmitt’s lack of passion for peds also wouldn’t work for the type of stories Grey’s Anatomy regularly told involving doctors. Whether with residents or attendings, Grey’s Anatomy delivered plenty of drama through characters prioritizing their surgical career and their passion over their loved ones, as Meredith and Cristina’s season 10 fight proved. Schmitt choosing something convenient wouldn’t pose conundrums for him as between his loved ones and a job he was neutral toward, he could easily take the side of those dearest to him, removing all the conflict for which Grey’s Anatomy is famous.

Alex Karev Practically Chose Plastics In Season 3 Before Realizing It Wasn't His Passion

Grey's Anatomy Residents Choosing Practical Specialties Never Worked In The Past

Like Schmitt, Alex Karev also made a practical choice for his specialty initially, choosing plastic surgery as that would let him have patients who “sign up for the pain they get.” Still, being forced to be on Addison Montgomery’s service toward the end of Grey’s Anatomy season 2 eventually prompted doubts about his decision. Grey’s Anatomy season 3 bringing Mark Sloan to Seattle Grace Hospital let Alex finally have the chance to pursue plastic surgery. However, Sloan treating him as his assistant and Addison’s interesting maternal-fetal cases made his change of heart unavoidable.

While Arizona Robbins was undoubtedly the one who raised Alex Karev as a pediatric surgeon, Alex would have never considered a pediatric surgery fellowship if it weren’t for Addison Montgomery. Her work was what convinced Karev he couldn’t have followed plastic surgery once he found a specialty whose cases he wanted to be in the OR for, feeling as if he were missing out by being on other doctors’ services. Even someone as practical as Alex couldn’t fight his surgical passion, making Schmitt’s choice a mistake unless he were to become passionate about pediatric surgery in Grey’s Anatomy season 20.

Grey's Anatomy airs new episodes every Thursday on ABC at 9pm ET.