- — Ethan Ramsey[1]
Ethan Ramsey, a character in the Open Heart series, is one of the doctors at Edenbrook Hospital and one of your love interests. He is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 1.
Quick Answers
What significant changes does Ethan Ramsey undergo upon his return from the Amazon?
What role does Ethan Ramsey play at Edenbrook Hospital?
How does the player's choice influence Ethan Ramsey's look in Open Heart Book 2?
Appearance
Ethan has blue eyes, brown hair, light skin and a stubble. His casual outfit consists of a gray cardigan over a light blue checkered shirt and beige trousers. In Book 2, Chapter 1, he returns from the Amazon and sports a new look. In Chapter 1's premium scene, you can influence him on whether or not he keeps the full beard and jacket. Later, you can also encourage him to keep his glasses or take them off. Otherwise he reverts to his original look. His new casual look consists of an olive green leather jacket and white henley shirt. At the hospital, he usually wears a light blue shirt with checkered blue pants, and a blue tie with polka dots under his doctor's coat. He is also noted to be very tall, as said by his father as he wanted Ethan to be a basketball player because of his height; and considered very handsome, as his good looks are brought up by the nurses, Sienna, his patient Gwenyth and on national television.
Personality
- "I became a doctor to attempt to do some good in this world, not to pander to the powerful or engage in petty hijinks."
- —Ethan to You
Ethan is a strict and demanding attending physician, having high expectations for the new doctors underneath his tutelage. He is also shown to be a man of his principles, believing that lower income patients deserve the same level of care as high profile patients. Despite his harshness, he has excellent bedside manner and cares more about his patients than his own job. He would rather use his energy focusing on his patients than use it to socialize or make someone's day better. He admits to not having unlimited patience. He believes idolatry among physicians is absurd; they're there to teach practical medicine. He used to see diagnosing patients like a game he had mastered, competing against death and winning. However, losing Dolores and the threat of losing Naveen makes him reconsider his outlook.
In Book 3, he realizes that he was too stubborn and rigid and unable to make compromises. He wants to learn from that and to do right, learn to work within the system and not against it. However, it takes time for him to realize that his actions still impact his team.
StoryLoom Description
"Demanding but brilliant, Dr. Ethan Ramsey is an attending physician at Edenbrook Hospital. His hard exterior hides a kind heart, as Dr. Ramsey puts the patients under his care above all else. Throughout the course of the series, Ethan learns how his inability to compromise impacts his team, and commits himself to changing for the good of Edenbrook... and you."[2]
Background
In Book 1, Chapter 8's premium scene, Ethan says he is not close to his family; his parents didn't approve or help him become a doctor. His proudest achievement was applying to medical school and leaving behind a path that had been planned for him.
- "I always felt like my age held me back from doing the things I wanted to do, exploring the things I wanted to explore. I hated not being taken seriously. I was serially underestimated, by adults, teachers. And whenever I would prove myself, they would think I was undermining them."
- —Ethan to You
In Book 2, this background changes. He states that his mother left him and his father 25 years ago[3]. He doesn't remember much except that he was 11 years old and she said she needed to go to grocery store and never came back. His father searched for her and called the police; when they found her, she told them that she was dumping him and one of the police officers laughed. Ethan was very angry, more so towards his father because his father forgave her[4]. According to his father, Ethan has always loved to solve mysteries. When he was a teenager, he considered becoming a cop because he liked to play detective but chose in the end to become a doctor. While his father wanted him to become a basketball player due to his height, his father said he would be proud of Ethan even if the younger man was a poor chef making bad pancakes. Nowadays, Ethan visits his father every month in Providence, Rhode Island, where they hail from.
Biography
Book 1
Meeting Your Character
Although Ethan doesn't meet you in person until you two find yourselves in the middle of a medical emergency, Ethan had known of you before you ever stepped foot into the hospital as he had read your file [5] and given his evaluation on your application for residency. He approved your match to Edenbrook [6] because he believed he saw someone with the potential to be truly great, the perfect doctor if only he challenged and pushed you hard enough.
During your first year internship, you become Ethan's unofficial protege and it becomes obvious very quickly that he is not the type of mentor to hold someone's hand and guide them to epiphanies. Instead his approach to teaching seems to be more of a learning-by-doing variant, sometimes on a level that might be considered brash and rude by others. No matter his attitude, he is highly respected for his knowledge and skills, and through it all, you learn to develop your own way of treating patients, applying personal experiences and relationships to your book smarts and education.
Losing Dolores Hudson
- "Just know... this wasn't your fault. Or mine. Or Dolores's. We all made the best decisions we could with the information we had."
- —Ethan Ramsey
Over ten years ago, when Ethan was an intern, Dolores was his very first patient. She had come in with a burst appendix and was freaking out, and he helped calm her down. Some time after he decided to email her just to check in on her, an email that led to chats over coffee, more emails, and eventually, to meetings every couple of months for Sunday roast. At the time, Ethan was very grateful for their friendship because he didn't make friends easily even then.
In Chapter 4, you take Dolores Hudson as a patient when she is brought into the emergency room for smoke inhalation. When Ethan hears about it, he quickly decides to accompany you for her examination and they briefly catch up as you listen to her heart and take observations. Dolores becomes upset when she checks her purse and realizes she can't find the stuffed frog she had bought for her unborn baby. You can either volunteer Ethan and yourself to retrieve it in a premium choice or just get her the next best thing.
Regardless of your choice, the two of you later diagnose that Dolores has preeclampsia and that her baby would need to be delivered early. She, however, protests saying that unless her baby is at immediate risk, she would not consent. Ethan tells her that he will give her a day to think it through, and he and you leave her room in the hopes that Dolores will change her mind. After, Ethan tells you to go home as your shift had ended hours ago, that there is nothing to be done at the moment but give her time. Later, you are notified that Dolores was rushed into emergency surgery. You race to the hospital only to find Ethan sitting alone in the waiting room; he lets you know that Dolores had a seizure and died in surgery but that they were able to deliver the baby, whom she named Ethan Hudson.
Losing one of his closest friend, Ethan still keeps his feelings guarded in front of you, but it is obvious that he is affected by his friend's sudden passing. In Chapter 15, he blames himself for her death.
Naveen Banerji is Ethan's mentor and old colleague, for whom Ethan has the utmost respect. Similar to Ethan's professional relationship with you, Naveen had taken Ethan under his wing when the latter first arrived at Edenbrook.
When Naveen unexpectedly retires in Chapter 4, his position as Head of the Diagnostics Team falls to Ethan. While the promotion itself does not upset Ethan, it is instead Naveen's medical condition that causes him stress and anxiety since both of them so far failed to diagnose Naveen's ailment. Aware of the older man's stubbornness and need for privacy, Ethan convinces him to stay at Edenbrook in secret under the alias "Patient X". When you discover who "Patient X" is, Ethan recruits you to help.
- "I tried everything, Naveen".
"I know you did, Ethan. Marvelous, isn't it? After all this time, life still had a mystery the two of us couldn't solve." - —Ethan Ramsey and Naveen Banerji
In Chapter 13, Ethan has to tell Naveen that the latter only has one month to live. As Ethan is unsure whether to allow his unofficial patient to leave the hospital or not, you influence his decision to either let Naveen go to spend that last month at home or keep him admitted by gently (and without physical touching) restraining him. Whichever decision is made, Ethan quits immediately after, believing he has failed in saving his friend and that your belief in him is misplaced as well. In the end, and despite your attempt to stop him, he walks out of the hospital.
Your Character and the Ethics Board
In Chapter 15, when you ask Ethan to testify on your behalf at the Ethics Hearing, Ethan tells you that he would but can't, seeing that Harper Emery will not allow him to do so due to his bias. Just as he had failed to save Dolores and Naveen, he is depressed that he can't do anything to save you either. However, when you and Landry come up with a theory about what might be wrong with Naveen and your tests prove your theory to be true shortly after, it gives Ethan hope to at least be able save his old friend - if he's not too late with the cure.
The next day, as you speak in front of the Ethics Committee, Ethan turns up with a surprise guest in toe: Teresa Martinez's son Luis. Mr. Martinez states that he will withdraw his lawsuit, even going as far as apologizing to you. Only ever as a child had he seen his mother as happy as he had in the postcards documenting her last days alive shown by Ethan to him after Mrs. Martinez's death. With Naveen's arrival and his vote in your favor, the board comes to the decision to not press charges against you nor recommend for you to lose your medical license, reinstating you as an employee of Edenbrook hospital instead.
Ethan also returns to the hospital, retaking his position as Head of Diagnostics as Naveen steps up to become Chief of Medicine. It is also Naveen who recommends you for the junior fellow position, which Ethan professionally approves of. However, if you pursue Ethan romantically, Ethan puts your personal relationship on hold once more, not wanting it to jeopardize your career and reputation.
Book 2
The Diagnostics Team
- "Being a doctor means you always lose in the end. But that doesn't mean you quit. It means you fight until your last breath."
- —Ethan to You
During the beginning of your second year residency, Ethan returns from Brazil after two months. He along with WHO, had gone to the forest of Amazon to fight the epidemic where the indigenious population was suffering from. As a second year resident and junior fellow, you find yourself working directly under Ethan as a part of his Diagnostics Team. The group is highly respected and fast-paced, much like Ethan himself, and you find your place on the team. When Edenbrook's funding and financial solvency begin to deteriorate, Ethan finds himself at odds with your methods of trying to save the hospital. He feels that seeking celebrities or wealthy patients would undermine treating low-income patients that need medical services more, but you reason that celebrities and wealthy patients are still patients that need care and if they are unable to be successfully treated by other hospitals and physicians, they need the expertise of the Diagnostics Team just as much as patients who are unable to afford to pay. However, no matter how many high profile patients you save, Edenbrook eventually closes.
When Leland Bloom later buys Edenbrook, Ethan, you, as well as the rest of the physicians and staff are reinstated to your previous positions. However grateful for the job, Ethan begins to clash with Leland regarding staffing. Leland wants Ethan to strongly consider adding Dr. Mendoza from Mass Kenmore to the Diagnostics Team, but Ethan is adamant about not doing so. Dr. Mendoza has the reputation for treating his patients like guinea pigs and caring more about flashy new procedures than patient care, but Leland believes the new Edenbrook needs doctors willing to take risks.
Louise Ramsey
She is Ethan's mother who left him and his father twenty-five years ago. Although he is angry with her, he is afraid that if he listens to her explain herself, he will lose all rational capability and let her back into his life.
In Chapter 13, she is admitted to the hospital's emergency room unconscious. She has blue lips and fingertips, shallow breathing, and track marks on her arm. You two come to the conclusion that she has overdosed on opioids and begin treatment. Ethan does his best to remain professional and he does not look down on her with the negative connotations associated with drug addicts. He treats her like he would treat any other patient, discharges her from the hospital, and takes her to the Willow Hill Recovery Center. He threatens the receptionist that if he finds out their mission and purpose are all lies and they actually create "repeat" customers, he will bring it up to the state licensing committee.
It is your choice to help Ethan repair his relationship with his mother and begin to forgive her. If you do not accompany Ethan to the rehabilitation center, he does not forgive her. If you choose to go with him, you can tell him to walk away or forgive her. If you choose the second, Louise apologizes to Ethan for what she had done. She tries to explain that she was young and felt trapped in family life. She wanted more, but she felt restless and back then, she thought that settling down made her abandon everything that made her who she was and who she wanted to be. Later, she realized her mistake and thought about returning or about coming to explain but was scared to. The years kept increasing and after a while, she felt it was too late to try. When Ethan asks her why she came back after all this time, she said that when her addiction started to get serious, she realized she didn't had time and needed to make amends with him.
How you approach Louise in helping her fix her relationship with Ethan determines her behavior. If you are not forthcoming with her, she is hostile towards you, which Ethan doesn't approve and reprimands her for behaving poorly with you.
Book 3
Bloom Edenbrook
To save Edenbrook, Leland Bloom buys the hospital, renames and revamps it into "Bloom Edenbrook", and becomes the Chief Underwriter of the hospital.
From the beginning, Ethan is skeptical of having him at helm. His skepticism becomes valid when Leland not only makes changes in the hospital, but also in the workings of the different departments of the hospital. He also starts running exploratory trials that are part of his "fail fast" approach. These trials are designed to bypass the red tape regulated by the FDA.
Initially, Ethan isn't hesitant of a few changes, but it comes to a head when Bloom uses one of their patients, Suzette Esfahani, as a guinea pig in one of his trials. He manipulates her without providing her enough and concise information. With or without your help, Ethan persuades Suzette to back out of the trial, which in turn angers Bloom and soon a cold war ensues between them.
In Chapter 6, Leland assigns the team with the case of a patient who is already diagnosed with porphyria, a rare illness which has similarities to Bloom's wife's condition. He wants the team to run tests and observe him to provide information for one of the hospital's ongoing trials. This baffles Ethan due to the poor treatment of the patient by Bloom and since porphyria-related cases can leave the patient exhausted.
Breaking Trial Protocol
In Chapter 7, Ethan gets one of his patients, Michael, who is suffering from Kennedy's Disease into one of Bloom's exploratory trials about a protein helping in preventing progressive muscular degeneration. It's a double blind study, but Ethan breaks trial protocol so that the patient can get the active drug. When you discover it and confront Ethan, you decide not to report him to the hospital board after hearing his reasoning. When Dr. Harper Emery finds out about it, she assumes you're the one who broke trial protocol and reports you to the board before confronting you.
When everything comes to light, Ethan comes forward to take responsibility for his actions. He is temporarily suspended for his action and Tobias replaces him as head of the team. The board holds a hearing during his suspension, determining that the study was exploratory in nature and the patient's inclusion did not impact the data negatively. Hence, they reinstate Ethan to his previous position.
Malpractice Lawsuit
In Chapter 12, Ethan reveals that he has been hit with a major malpractice lawsuit. The case in question happened during Ethan's residency and he willingly takes the blame for the mistake committed by Dr. Banerji since it was Ethan's signature on the patient's chart. He decides not to tell Naveen about the lawsuit in order to protect him.
The patient went into anaphylactic shock and coded due to a drug interaction (a drug Naveen prescribed without remembering that she was already on another drug that was contraindicated), and her larynx was nicked during an emergency tracheotomy that Naveen performed. The case brought forth after so many years confuses you since the patient recovered very fast after the incident and there was no initial problem from the patient's side.
Later, it comes to light that Leland Bloom bankrolled the case in order to get back at Ethan, wanting the latter to lose his job and reputation. When Naveen finds out, he confronts Bloom and convinces him to settle the case out of court. Naveen reasons that if he, a well-reputed doctor and the Chief of Medicine, confessed to his mistake, the hospital's reputation would be tarnished. This would lead to loss of revenue as well as a decrease in number of patents for trials. Since Bloom is the owner of the hospital, it will directly effect him as well. Naveen also demands Bloom to stop interfering in all the departments of the hospital, which Bloom has to unwillingly agree to.
Afterwards, Naveen resigns from his position as Chief of Medicine and retires. He offers the position to Ethan.
Chapters
Open Heart
Book 1
- Chapter 1: The Doctor Is In
- Chapter 2: Code Blue
- Chapter 3: Hanging in the Balance
- Chapter 4: Dolores
- Chapter 5: Relief
- Chapter 6: Housewarming
- Chapter 7: Patient X
- Chapter 8: Make-Believe
- Chapter 9: The Pita
- Chapter 10: Risk and Reward
- Chapter 11: Whatever it Takes
- Chapter 12: Panacea
- Chapter 13: Admission
- Chapter 14: Triage (Mentioned)
- Chapter 15: Hearing Impaired
- Chapter 16: The Curious Case of Dr. Banerji
- Chapter 17: The Oath
Book 2
- Chapter 1: Prognosis
- Chapter 2: The Interns
- Chapter 3: What's Done Is Done
- Chapter 4: Blind Spot
- Chapter 5: Influence
- Chapter 6: Buying Time
- Chapter 7: Wake-Up Call
- Chapter 8: Fair Game
- Chapter 9: Undetected
- Chapter 10: The Senator
- Chapter 11: Countdown
- Chapter 12: Control
- Chapter 13: Time Bomb
- Chapter 14: Snowball
- Chapter 15: Do No Harm
- Chapter 16: The Kindness of Strangers
- Chapter 17: Hopeful Hearts
- Chapter 18: Inevitable
- Chapter 19: One Last Case
- Chapter 20: Picking Sides
Book 3
- Chapter 1: Edenbrook 2.0
- Chapter 2: More Than Meets The Eye
- Chapter 3: Look on the Bright Side
- Chapter 4: Power Struggles
- Chapter 5: Too Late
- Chapter 6: Checks and Balances
- Chapter 7: Team Players
- Chapter 8: The Die Is Cast
- Chapter 9: Build Up
- Chapter 10: Ceasefire
- Chapter 11: Wedding Belles
- Chapter 12: Steady Hand
- Chapter 13: Building Up
- Chapter 14: Against the Boards (Offscreen; Physical Appearance Determinant)
- Chapter 15: Day in Court
- Chapter 16: Moving On
With Every Heartbeat
With Every Heartbeat
- Chapter 7: Worried Sick
- Chapter 10: The Hereafter (Determinant)
Hearts on Fire
Open Hearts on Fire
- Chapter 1: Code Red
Hearts on Fire
- Chapter 4: Disaster at the Metro/Rage at the Metro
- Chapter 8: The Fire Within (Mentioned; Determinant)
- Chapter 12: A Night Out
- Chapter 15: Unmasking the Arsonist
Main Character Energy
Main Character Energy
- Chapter 4: Can I Pet That Dawg
Relationships
Your Character
In Book 1, Dr. Ramsey first encounters you when a woman collapses in the waiting room as you're walking by. You assist him in diagnosing a hemothorax and performing an emergency thoracotomy but he criticizes your speed and technique. Regardless of your response to his cutting remarks, it is this instance that sets you apart from your fellow interns and causes jealousy to arise. When a position on his world-renowned Diagnostics Team opens and the senior staff decides to make it a competition between the first year interns, you first tell him that you are not interested because you don't want to jeopardize your friendships. However, when you realize that competition makes you and your friends better doctors, you hurry to sign up at the last minute.
During the course of your first year, Dr. Ramsey becomes your unofficial mentor. He talks to you about coping with patients' deaths, challenges you with difficult patients, and encourages you to think outside the box. In Chapter 9, he accidentally reveals to you that it was his evaluation that got you matched to Edenbrook Hospital. He says that he believed he saw someone who could be truly great when he read your application. In Chapter 12, if you choose to tell Ethan that you caused Teresa Martinez's death by giving her the dosage of V-3706, he tells you that he wished you would have thought about your future before doing so. However, what's done is done and he tells you that you shouldn't let your guilt distract you or your current and future patients will suffer for it.
If you decide to pursue Ethan romantically, you are able to kiss him for the first time in Chapter 10's premium scene. However, he tries to resist you during most of your pursuit, stating that an attending/intern relationship would not work as he has seen the horror stories of such relationships. Attendings are responsible for the managing and training of residents, and he believes that it would be an inappropriate work relationship and harmful for your career. In Chapter 11, he pretends as if nothing has happened and asks that you not mention the kiss at work. In Chapter 12, you have the option to join Ethan for a night at the opera where you can kiss him (again). If you kiss him, he is initially hesitant due to the work politics, but gives into you momentarily before stopping it once again.
In Chapter 15, when you ask Ethan to testify on your behalf at the Ethics Hearing, it comes to light that he cannot and that he is frustrated that he has never been able to help anyone he truly cares about including you. Emery would not allow it because he is too biased. You both acknowledge this to be true, leading to the realization that you and Ethan no longer work together. After this, you have the premium option to consummate your relationship with Ethan. He says he tried not to fall for you, but he could not resist.
In Chapter 16, when you and Landry come to a theory about what is plaguing Naveen, you return to Ethan's apartment to get him. If you are correct in your diagnosis, Ethan is the only physician you know that can correctly dose the therapy needed. After he succeeds in doing so, you go to the Ethics Hearing and Ethan soon follows with Teresa's son, who withdraws his lawsuit after he realizes how happy his mother was and how you were able to give her that even for a short time.
In Chapter 17, Ethan returns to Edenbrook and is promoted as the Head of the Diagnostics Team. When Naveen promotes you to the Diagnostics Team, that complicates your relationship with Ethan if you pursue him romantically. He withdraws back to his unwillingness to jeopardize your career and reputation by combining a personal and professional relationship with you.
In Book 2, you are now a second year resident and junior fellow on Edenbrook's Diagnostics Team. Ethan returns from Amazon after two months. If you are not pursuing Ethan as a love interest, he tells you that Amazon cleared his head and that he needed the trip after the close call he had with Naveen. If he is your love interest, he tells you that he needed the distance so that you two could work together again at a professional level and that the relationship will jeopardize your development as a doctor.
As Ethan's direct coworker now, you can call him out on his attitude in front of June and Baz if you choose to. Ethan is still available to give you advice, but he asks you to help him with schmoozing and socializing with people like Governor Rivera and Senator Farrugia.
If you pursue Ethan romantically, he comes to a change of heart in Chapter 11 when crisis strikes Edenbrook and Travis Perry releases an unknown biological weapon in the hospital in an attempt to kill Senator Farrugia. When you are infected by the weapon, Ethan and your friends as well as physicians from rival hospital Mass Kenmore seek to find the cure before it's too late. This event forces Ethan to come to terms with his feelings for you and you begin to date secretly, since Ethan cares about your career too much and is afraid that people will gossip and judge your position at the Diagnostics Team, no matter how deserving you are for it. At Hopeful Hearts Gala, when it starts to become evident that Edenbroook might not stay open, Ethan kisses you in front of his colleagues and agrees to a public relationship with you, deciding to not hide his feelings any longer. You are still able to pursue other romantic interests if you choose to, but his public display of affection cements your relationship in front of your coworkers' eyes.
In Chapter 20, when Leland Bloom decides to buy Edenbrook and the hospital reopens, both of you return to your previous jobs with Ethan as Head of the Diagnostics Team and you as the junior member.
In Book 3, Dr. Harper Emery, Ethan's good friend and former girlfriend joins the team. You, at first, feel left out whenever they interact because of their history, but are able to overcome the insecurity and work cordially with them. As a third year resident and the junior fellow on the Diagnostics Team, you can be either on Ethan's side against Leland's managerial style or against Ethan as Leland's advocate or be neutral towards both of them.
In Chapter 11, premium scene, Ethan tells you further about his feeling towards you that he hasn't felt like this with anyone and doesn't know if he will ever again. In Chapter 15, you testify for Ethan at court for the malpractice lawsuit. You could provide positive, negative or neutral testimony towards him in the court. He doesn't hold it against you if your testimony is negative towards him. In a premium scene, he advises you to choose your future very carefully since your choices can reverberate throughout your life, before your board result comes out. In Chapter 16, he confesses his love for you. You have the choice to return back his feelings.
Dr. Aurora Emery
Because you and Aurora are assigned as partners for your first batch of patients, Dr. Ramsey is also Aurora's attending physician. He chastises her for ignoring cases that are not challenging, and tells her that her patients are not optional assignments.
Dr. Harper Emery
As of last year, Harper is his boss. In Chapter 4, you see them talking privately and can eavesdrop on them or not. If you eavesdrop on them, you hear that he will fight her every step of the way. With the other interns, you find out that they were discussing the position he is vacating to become the new head of the diagnostics unit. They have decided to open it as a junior fellow and the new interns may compete for it. Their work throughout the year will determine who wins the position. In a premium scene of the same chapter, it's revealed that he had a fling with her, an on and off relationship that has been "off" since she became his boss about a year ago.
In Chapter 6, if asked, he will tell you that he has feelings of respect, admiration, and collegiality for her; you will note that there is still something he isn't telling you there.
Harper doesn't let Ethan testify for you at the Hearing because she believes Ethan is biased towards you.
In Book 3, she joins the Diagnostics Team as a member when Ethan offers him June's vacant position.
He was Ethan's mentor and offers wisdom to him. In Chapter 3, you overhear a heated argument between them that makes Ethan punch the wall and tell Naveen that he is no longer his teacher. In Chapter 4, you find out Naveen retired and Ethan has been promoted to his position. Ethan doesn't want to let Naveen down. It is soon revealed that Dr. Banerji has an unknown disease when your character's curiosity gets better of him or her to find out who Patient X is. If you decide to go to Ethan's home to talk about Dr. Banerji in private, you can tell he is upset and depressed about the situation. In Chapter 12, he is able to tell you that he is scared because it seems he cannot save him. In Chapter 16, when you and Landry crack the case, Ethan has to call in a favor at a university lab to get the phage for Naveen's treatment.
In Book 3, when Ethan is hit with a malpractice lawsuit, you find out that the case is centered around a patient from his residency. The patient went into anaphylactic shock and coded due to a drug interaction, and her larynx was nicked during an emergency tracheotomy that Naveen performed. Ethan decided to take blame for the drug interaction. The fact that Ethan was a resident and should not be raked across the coals for this confuses Dr. Aaron Tanaka; however, Dr. Garret Thorne guesses that Ethan is covering for Naveen and Naveen is pressuring Ethan to keep quiet.
It is later revealed that Naveen was blindsided as Ethan didn't tell him the truth in order to protect his mentor. Naveen comes to Ethan's rescue and the lawsuit is dropped. Later, Naveen retires and resigns as Chief of Medicine and offers his position to Ethan.
Declan Nash
Declan Nash and Ethan share a history, which includes Ethan punching Declan in the face and humiliating Declan publicly. Ethan is against Declan Nash and his company Panacea Labs getting a partnership with Edenbrook because he knows that Panacea Labs values profit above patients and pushes the use of its expensive and over-priced drugs.
In Chapter 10, Ethan asks you to ask Declan discreetly and gather intel on his company's experimental sepsis treatment program to potentially help Naveen. You agree to help but no matter how you play your part, Declan spots Ethan and doesn't give you the answers you need. That evening, Ethan challenges Declan to a card game. If Ethan wins, his prize is getting the treatment for Naveen; if Declan wins, he gets a contract with Ethan's team. Ethan lets Declan win (so it publicly strokes his ego) and in turn, Nash gives Ethan the treatment anyway.
Tobias Carrick
He tells you in Book 2, Chapter 6, that he and Tobias Carrick were at one point really close friends; practically brothers. But that their competitive natures eventually got in the way, and the relationship soured. Ethan goes onto say that they both wanted too many of the same things like the highest GPA, the best residency and that even fell for the same person. Despite their rivalry, Tobias was willing to help find a cure when you, Rafael, Danny, and Bobby are poisoned. Aurora said watching them work together was like them doing mental ballet.
In Book 3, Chapter 5, Tobias is hired to join the Diagnostics Team to Ethan's dismay. Ethan believes that Tobias plays dirty, as evident by their shared past when they both fought for a position on the Diagnostics Team with Naveen Banerji. Ethan says he wouldn't have minded losing to Tobias fair and square, but when he learned that Tobias tried to sabotage him, Ethan lost respect for him and their friendship was broken. Tobias couldn't forgive Ethan for getting the job that he wanted so badly. Ethan tells you that Tobias is a relentless competitor, but also a good doctor.
If you and the team decide to go out for lunch with Tobias, you learn that Tobias had pranked Ethan years ago, telling the latter that wasabi was actually avocado and the traditional way to eat sushi was to eat a big chunk of it before the meal. Ethan returned the prank by making Tobias drink whiskey laced with cinnamon spices. At lunch, Tobias comes up with a plan to distract Leland Bloom from interfering with the team's work, which Ethan accepts.
In a premium scene in Chapter 9, Tobias explains that he was a sore loser and took losses too personal. When Ethan got the job under Dr. Naveen, it was "the last straw". Ethan had gotten a message about an interview for that job one night, and Tobias deleted it without telling the former. However, the sabotage didn’t work, and Ethan got the job anyway and moved out afterwards. Tobias gave an ingenious apology, but never a real one because he was too embarrassed and would ignore Ethan whenever he reached out. In Chapter 15, Tobias is called to court during Ethan's malpractice lawsuit to provide character testimony on behalf of plaintiff. He gives a positive testimony leaving Ethan shocked. By the end, their friendship seems to have improved, both of them occasionally disagreeing with each other.
June Hirata
Dr. June Hirata is one of Ethan's colleagues and fellow member of the Diagnostics Team. They have a working professional relationship, but as June can not manipulate Ethan as easily as she could you, she appears superficially friendly towards him. She sometimes chides or teases him in front of the team, but he doesn't respond in kind. When she decides to quit Edenbrook, he does not appear affected by her decision. He also does not push for her reinstatement when Leland Bloom buys Edenbrook.
Leland Bloom
When Ethan meets Leland Bloom for the first time, he already has a negative impression of him. He doesn't believe that the hospital should pander to rich men to help its financial problems. This impression continues to drop when Leland mentions that he wants Edenbrook's diagnostic team to compete against Mass Kenmore's team. After running through his symptoms and ruling out diseases such as Hodgkin lymphoma and lupus, you suggest a kidney ultrasound to locate the source of the bleeding, but Leland refuses to cancel his yachting meeting. If you choose to join them on their yacht, you and Ethan bring a portable ultrasound machine to use. Upon your results, you tell him he needs to come back to the hospital. There, Ethan tells him he has high levels of immunoglobulin A, which has been building up in his kidneys for decades and is now damaging them. His best bet is a double kidney transplant but he would probably die waiting on the transplant list. Leland secures himself donors willing to give him a kidney each, bypassing the need to wait on the transplant list.
In Book 2, Chapter 19, Leland offers Ethan a job to be Caroline's private physician, which Ethan declines. Ethan states private practice is not in his future. In Chapter 20, Leland purchases Edenbrook to remake it. He wants it to be the premier research hospital in New England as he will not believe his wife and he will be separated by their conflicting diseases forever. Leland's mission conflicts with Ethan's standard of care from the beginning, as the former suggests adding Dr. Mendoza into the Diagnostics team. Leland thinks Dr. Mendoza is a risk taker which is necessary to push the boundaries of medicine; Ethan believes Dr. Mendoza has no regard for human life and sees his patients as guinea pigs to experiment on.
In Book 3, their animosity continues although they keep superficial pleasantries with each other than argue publicly. When Leland persuades Suzette Esfahani to join one of the hospital's studies, Ethan convinces Suzette to drop out. When Ethan determines one of the hospital studies will actually help their patient Michael with his disease, Ethan gets Michael assigned to the active drug group. When Leland suspends Ethan for this, the board gives Ethan a "slap on the wrist" warning and reinstates him. While Ethan is happy that Leland's shot at him missed, you are more wary about what Leland might do in the future, which comes to be true as he bankrolls a case against him to make him lose his job and respected reputation.
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Book 1
Book 2
Book 3
Miscellaneous
Trivia
- He is shown on the covers of Open Heart, Book 1, Open Heart: Second Year, Open Heart: Third Year, and Open Hearts on Fire.
- He shares the same first name as Ethan Blake from Red Carpet Diaries.
- The name Ethan is of Hebrew origin, which means: Strong, safe, firm, solid, enduring.
- The second name Jonah is of Hebrew origin and means "dove". He reveals his middle name in Chapter 16.
- The surname Ramsey is of Old English and means "island of wild garlic" or "low-lying land".
- He has a fellowship in Diagnostic Medicine.
- He has published Diagnostic Principles - a textbook - as well as papers on systemic amyloidosis, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, and spinocerebellar ataxia (which was his undergrad thesis, published in a journal that is currently no longer printed).
- He once tore apart the research of the American Medical Association's president during the president's keynote address. He has also won the Adeyemi Prize, and was keynote speaker at the A.A.D.M. conference (A.A.D.M. is the American Academy of Disaster Medicine, but Pixelberry probably fictionalized it to mean the American Academy of Diagnostic Medicine).
- In a premium scene in Chapter 4, he'll reveal to you that he is 36.
- The first patient he lost was during his fourth week (of residency). His patient wasn't much older than 36 years old, and had stage four metastatic melanoma, and even though Ethan knew his patient didn't have long to live, his patient's death hit him hard.
- In Book 1, Chapter 4, he tells Mrs. Martinez that when he was younger, he was a "lovable scoundrel" and got away with everything.
- In Chapter 5, during a premium scene, Ethan mentions he no longer speaks with his former co-workers while he was in residency, as the hyper-competitive nature ruined their friendships.
- In Book 1, Chapter 6, during a premium scene, Ethan reveals he has a dog named Jenner, named after Edward Jenner, "father of immunology". He also reveals that his biggest embarrassment was when he was still a resident and misdiagnosed a patient. He was mortified and vowed to never let it happen again. If asked, he says that he's not sure if he wants children saying "I'm not sure if that's in the cards for me. I don't think I'd be able to be there for them, at least not the way they need".
- If he has spare time, he enjoys reading historical non-fiction.
- As of Book 1, Chapter 13, he no longer works at Edenbrook Hospital after quitting for not being able to cure Naveen Banerji. He returns to work in Chapter 16.
- On June, 20, 2019, it was revealed that in the update for the Choices App on this day, one of the new ads for the app features Ethan and a version of Your Character.
- During the break between Open Heart, Book 1 and Open Heart: Second Year, he spent two months helping the World Health Organization respond to an unspecified outbreak in the Amazon.
- In Book 2, Chapter 5, he mentions that he is now 37 and says that this technically makes him a millennial.
- In Book 2, Chapter 8, it is revealed that Ethan loves cooking as he finds it very meditative.
- In Book 2, Chapter 9, if you recruit Ethan to help you sneak into Mass Kenmore and choose to hide in the supply closet, he states that the last time he hid in a supply closet was when he was an intern.
- On April 10, 2020, Pixelberry tweeted their #QuarantineHouse challenge, placing Ethan in House 2 with Quinn Kelly, Caleb Mitchell, Landry Olsen, Olivia Nevrakis, and Hayden Young.
- He is a playable character in Book 2, Chapter 11.
- You have the chance to play as him again in Book 3, Chapter 13.
- He is the only playable character in Open Hearts on Fire.
- In Book 3, Chapter 8, he is suspended, but his suspension is lifted in Chapter 9.
- In Book 3, Chapter 16, he has been promoted as the Chief of Medicine.
- On December 7, 2021, PB revealed Ethan was voted as one of the three best love interests. The other two are Kamilah Sayeed from the Bloodbound series and King "Liam" Rys from The Royal Romance series.[7]
References
- ↑ Chapter 1
- ↑ https://storyloom.squarespace.com/initiatives/94xvzblitb42f7ak8ielpevmt1t8pw
- ↑ Open Heart: Second Year, Chapter 3
- ↑ Open Heart: Second Year, Chapter 7
- ↑ Open Heart, Book 1, Chapter 15
- ↑ Open Heart, Book 1, Chapter 9
- ↑ https://twitter.com/PlayChoices/status/1468332110318489602