Why Sandra Oh's Cristina Yang Left Grey's Anatomy

People come and go on "Grey's Anatomy" all the time. The long-running medical drama created by Shonda Rhimes was introduced as a mid-season replacement back in 2005 and has seen a lot of main cast members join and leave the show over the years; even its titular "Grey," Ellen Pompeo's Meredith, "left" the series in November 2022. (Although she no longer appears in every single episode, Pompeo still provides the show's iconic voiceover and serves as an executive producer.) But what about Meredith's "person" Dr. Cristina Yang, the cardiothoracic superstar played by Sandra Oh for the show's first 10 seasons?

Cristina is one of the show's five original surgical interns — alongside Meredith, Dr. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight), Dr. Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and Dr. Isobel "Izzie" Stevens (Katherine Heigl), all of whom also leave the show and its fictional Seattle-based hospital behind at some point — and pretty early in the series, it's established that she and Meredith are best friends. (When Cristina needs to write down an emergency contact for a medical procedure she needs, she lists Meredith, which is the first time that she refers to Meredith as "her person.") Despite her relationships with other doctors on "Grey's Anatomy," like cardiothoracic attending Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) and Dr. Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd), Cristina is, above all, married to her work; she never gives up her dream of becoming a top heart surgeon, and by the 10th season of the series, she's chief of the cardio department at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital (née Seattle Grace Hospital) and receives a nomination for a Harper Avery Award, an in-universe honor that's only won by truly exceptional physicians.

So, what happens to Cristina on the show? Why does she leave Seattle? (I'll put anyone who doesn't know at ease: unlike other former "Grey's Anatomy" doctors, Cristina does not meet some grisly end, though colleagues like George certainly do.) Will we ever see Cristina Yang in the Pacific Northwest again? Let's break it all down.

Okay, so remember that Harper Avery Award I just mentioned? That thing is a big freakin' deal in "Grey's Anatomy." Meredith's famous surgeon mother, Dr. Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), is a legend because she won it twice, and after Dr. Preston Burke exits the show in the season 3 finale (leaving Cristina at the altar in the process), Cristina receives news that he won the award himself, which sends her into a massive spiral. It's Cristina's dream to be recognized for her surgical innovation and skill and take home a Harper Avery, and after she 3-D prints a heart conduit for a tiny baby, everyone thinks she's going to win.

She doesn't, and it's a political decision; as the foundation's head Dr. Catherine Avery (Debbie Allen) explains to her lover and Grey Sloan's former chief of surgery Dr. Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.), nobody at Grey Sloan can win a Harper Avery. Why? During the show's ninth season, Cristina, Meredith, and several other doctors who were involved in a deadly plane crash while flying to perform a surgery in Boise, Idaho, sue the hospital and win; their settlement bankrupts the place. In the aftermath, they band together and, with Catherine's help, they buy the hospital ... so, because the Harper Avery Foundation technically owns Grey Sloan, she'll never be a real contender, nor will any of her talented peers. (This issue magically disappears in season 14 when Meredith wins one, but whatever.)

After she loses the award, Cristina is invited to speak about her work at a hospital in Zürich, Switzerland ... only to discover that the hospital she visits belongs to Burke. He tells her that he hopes to retire to spend more time with his wife and children and wants to basically hand over the reins to her, and she accepts, moving to Zürich — with her favorite resident Shane Ross (Gaius Charles) in tow — to lead a world-class, cutting-edge hospital performing breakthrough research. Before she goes, though, Cristina has one last moment with her person; after she and Meredith "dance it out" together, she tells her best friend something vitally important about Meredith's marriage to the brilliant neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey). "Don't let what he wants eclipse what you need," Cristina says to Meredith before her departure. "He's very dreamy, but he is not the sun. You are."

Cristina Yang is mentioned periodically after she leaves "Grey's Anatomy" (Meredith frequently mentions that they text, although she's never seen on any video calls or anything), but Sandra Oh has not physically returned to the series that launched her career (and, in a just world, should have won her an Emmy, because her performance is incredible throughout). So, what has Oh said since she left the show in 2014?

While celebrating the show's 20th anniversary in March 2025, Oh spoke to Entertainment Weekly and said that it was a tough decision to leave "Grey's Anatomy," but she stands by her choice. "I knew in my gut that I had done as much as I could," Oh mused. "I really, really felt I did my job. I also was very, very cognizant that not many actors get to do this: create a full character and really live through their life, and then actually make the choice to come to a close."

Plus, Oh is particularly happy with the way that "Grey's Anatomy" creatives Shonda Rhimes and Krista Vernoff engineered Cristina's triumphant exit, which fulfills pretty much all of the character's long-held dreams and ambitions. "And I think that they planned it beautifully," Oh continued. "It also gave me time to move the audience with me to say goodbye to this character and wish her well. And I think that — at least I hope — myself and the writers, we did that."

Oh also said that she's not ruling out a return to Seattle someday. "For the longest time, it has always been a hard no. And it's just ... I don't know. I just don't know," Oh revealed. "When you finish something, it's a deep process ... I just cannot tell you ... I can't stress to you enough how consciously I tried to fully process leaving. I don't feel the need to revisit, but I also profoundly understand the audience's love for this character, because I've seen it for the past 10 years. That's the part that makes me just go, hmmm."

Still, Oh also told People in May 2025 that she does not watch the show on streaming or in syndication. "I gotta tell you, I've put that gently aside," she admitted, so whether or not she'll ever deign to return is anyone's guess. If you want to relive Oh's time as Cristina Yang, "Grey's Anatomy" is streaming on both Hulu and Netflix now.