We Just Met a New Doctor on Chicago Med Who Will Definitely Shake Things Up

As hospital administration shifts are set in motion, new characters enter the fold, and beloved faces bid farewell, it's safe to say Chicago Med is facing uncharted territory. Among these new doctors rocking the boat is Dr. Grace Song, played by Big Sky's T.V. Carpio.

In Season 8, Episode 12, fans continued to witness the consequences of Jack Dayton (Sasha Roiz) purchasing Gaffney Medical Group. The other shoe finally fell as Dayton realized he isn't a medical professional. What does a hospital-owning millionaire do when they don't know how to do their job? They hire someone who does! Enter: Dr. Grace Song.

Who is Dr. Grace Song on Chicago Med?

Season 8, Episode 12 began with the doctors settling into their new surroundings with Dayton's changes in place. Dayton has been dumping investments into the hospital, and while this has solved many issues with staffing and supply shortages, the doctors are still paying a hefty price. Dayton is a money-maker first, which has led him to make some questionable decisions since purchasing Gaffney Medical Group. He intends to focus on business matters more and knows virtually nothing about treating patients, leading him to recruit some help.

As part of Dayton's "out with the old, in with the new" movement, we meet Dr. Grace Song. While Dayton hired Dr. Petra Dupre to handle his fancy new O.R. 2.0., he brought on Grace to transform how the ER is run. Dayton introduces Dr. Song to the Med doctors as an "incredible surgeon" hired by Dayton Corp. to help optimize the way doctors treat patients. Since many of the doctors are hesitant to embrace these changes, it's now Grace's job to help guide them in Dayton's direction. 

"I asked Dr. Grace Song here to spend a little bit more time in the ED," Dayton announced to the doctors and nurses. "She is one of my top minds, and I've tasked her with finding ways to make your jobs easier and more efficient so that you can keep doing your incredible work." Some doctors, such as Dr. Archer (Steven Weber) and Dr. Will Halstead (Nick Gehlfuss), immediately struggled with Grace's new position as the harbinger of change. 

While Grace is certainly shaking things up for the doctors, she doesn't seem to be an antagonistic force. People don't like change—and doctors like Will and Archer think these specific changes are redundant and ridiculous. Grace hears them out thoughtfully, reminding them that she's there to help doctors use tech so that it's empowering rather than inhibiting. Grace attempts to paint this picture to Dr. Archer, who claims she is there to solve "problems that don't exist," using Will as an example.

"Take Ginger Spice over there," Grace playfully teased. "He could be verbally charting directly into our new EMR instead of wasting time typing or copying and pasting."

"Typing after I see a patient is how I've always done it," Will retorted.

"You're creating more work for yourself," she said. "You still have to manually input your notes, and in the interim hope that there's no gap in communication with nursing."

"Hasn't been a problem before," Will shrugged. "Besides, that allows me time to wrap my head around patient history and lab results before hand-off."

"Or you could be spending that time with more patients," Grace challenged.

"With my nose buried in a screen," Will concluded, swiftly wrapping up their conversation to help a patient. And wouldn't you have it, that patient provided Grace the perfect opportunity to show her new colleagues what she has to offer.

Will was tasked with helping a young boy, Jason, who was admitted after having continuous seizures. Jason's parents are at a loss for what could be causing the seizures, and after running some tests, Will faced a similar debacle. No matter what tests he'd run, nothing came back conclusive, leading him on a wild medical goose chase as the boy's condition worsened. But right when Will was beginning to panic, an unexpected colleague stepped in with a fair case of curiosity. 

Grace approached Will to ask why he was ordering DNA sequencing for his patient. Will immediately went to the defensive, but Grace clarified that she was merely curious, and his case caught her eye. Plus, Grace tells Will, "Currently, no one has anything they want to optimize around here, so I'm just twiddling my thumbs." 

Will ends up needing the extra hand, especially as Jason continued to get worse. Will told Grace that he ruled out infections, so he suspects Jason has some form of mutation in his body causing the problem. Will told Grace that there could be hundreds of different mutation possibilities, and she quickly clarified it could be thousands. Translation: They have a bunch of options to consider and no time for nonsense, which caused Will to panic when he realized he wouldn't be able to sort through the data in time. 

But Grace quickly caught a solution. "I think I might be able to do that for you. I could construct a neural network using existing EMR databases. Basically, bundle them all together, input Jason's DNA, and compare it against tens of thousands of known mutations in this neural network," she says. Grace offers to code her way into a diagnosis, which is a solution that would have been unheard of before she arrived.

Ultimately, Grace's optimizations saved the day and Jason's life. Using existing EMR databases, Grace determines Jason has a rare but treatable disorder that causes his body to not transmit thymine, which was causing the seizures. Jason's family is relieved, and despite Will's previous hesitance, he starts to warm up to Grace. 

In the episode's final moments, Will thanks Grace for her help and apologizes for his behavior at the beginning of the day. Will asked Grace to train him on the new EMR program, and after making a playful joke about needing to focus on preventing "noses in iPad screens," she agreed.

Grace represents a new chapter of Chicago Med, but based on her first appearance and helpfulness, she seems far from a bad guy. Dayton's hold over the hospital is a constant concern for Med fans right now, but it seems like Grace is simply ushering in innovative changes in the medical industry that will hopefully only help her colleagues. Among the many chaotic changes of Chicago Med Season 8, Dr. Grace Song entering the mix is a positive development.

Watch Chicago Med Wednesdays at 8/7c on NBC and the next day on Peacock.