Post by Lisa Cuddy on Jan 17, 2010 15:47:20 GMT -5
Dr. Allison Cameron was hired six months prior to the pilot episode. House explicitly informed her that he hired her based on her looks because he believed that a pretty girl who went into medicine shows greater dedication compared to an ordinary-looking student because the former could have easily used her looks to get an easier job.
Prior to working at PPTH, Cameron was a medical intern at the Mayo Clinic, and was one of the top students in her class in medical school. She hails from the Midwestern United States and that has a sibling, an unnamed older brother. Cameron is known for her honesty, sincerity, idealism and possesses a strong moral and ethical center. She is hyperopic and an atheist.
Markedly flawed, she has complex relationships with her colleagues; not least of all with House. Cameron is occasionally hesistant and unwilling to perform House's bidding when she is required to deceive their patients and has gone to head-to-head with him before several times on the issue. In one episode, Cameron even disagrees with House about the best kind of cheese, maintaining that goat cheese is preferable. She has also shown extreme reluctance to deliver bad news to patients or their families. Despite this, she has been effective in gaining patients' trust and approval of diagnostic procedures when the need arises, in contrast to House's strong-arm methods.
The character underwent a growth in development when she proved to be far more assertive in her beliefs and actions in season three showing that she was not above employing tactics used by House in order to get the job done. However, her consistently good intentions did not change and her loyalty to her boss was proved unquestionable as evidenced by his legal troubles -- being previously under investigation for alleged drug addiction and trafficking. Her allegiance came to an abrupt end, however, when she surprisingly resigned in the season three finale.
Cameron's awkwardness with death was explained when she confided to House that she had once fallen in love and married when she was 21. However, the marriage lasted only six months; her husband's death was due to thyroid cancer that had metastasized to his brain. She also revealed to Wilson that she had met her husband shortly after he was diagnosed, and that if they hadn't married, he would have died alone.
Dr. Sebastian Charles, a world-renowned activist, fellow immunologist and patient, asks Cameron to move with him to Africa. (and also asks her on a date) She confided in Dr. Chase, who expressed his doubt that she would go out with Dr. Charles -- despite their mutual attraction --simply because he wasn't House. At the end of the episode, she declined both of Charles's offers.
In "Hunting", an HIV-positive patient accidentally coughed blood into Cameron's mouth and eyes, putting her at risk of contracting the disease. In order to make her take her final HIV test months later, House told her -- out of the blue -- that he loved her; her mouth dropped open in shock. House used the opportunity to quickly swab the inside of her cheek for the test. Cameron later learned that House had opened her test results before she had a chance to find out herself. He justified this by citing the letter's confidentiality and that he had simply wanted to know.
Cameron's relationship with Dr. Foreman became strained after she accused him of plagiarizing her article for a medical journal after his was published. Her frustration and anger were further exacerbated by her peers' indifference. She eventually confronted Foreman and apologized for the way she had treated him, claiming she didn't want to damage their friendship. She is stunned when Foreman remarks that they were never friends in the first place.
In the third season finale, Cameron became the lone fellow of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine after her colleagues Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman were fired and resigned from their posts, respectively. She bid farewell separately to the both of them, even giving Foreman a framed citation of his published article, in reference to their previous conflict the year before.
In "The Right Stuff", Wilson claims that Cameron is engaged to Chase and living in Arizona after House believes he is having visions of her in the hospital. It is later revealed that Wilson was lying to House -- Cameron now works in the ER.
