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Everyone is dealing with something. We just have to love other people for who they are and hope they love us, too.
― Claire Browne[src]

Dr. Claire Browne is a former surgical resident at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital and a main character in the first four seasons of the show. She was the closest to Shaun when they worked together, all the while having to deal with Breeze’s death following a drunk-driving accident which shook Claire’s faith to it’s core. At the end of the fourth season, Claire decided to remain in Guatemala in order to continue helping provide much needed medical care to the less fortunate. She was seen near the end of Season 5 as a guest star, informing her friends she had been offered the job of Chief of Surgery in Guatemala. In The Lea Show, she was revealed to have accepted it.

History[]

Early life[]

Claire had an especially difficult early life; her father, Miles, left her and her mother, Breeze, when Claire was supposedly very young and Breeze emotionally abused her. She was a drug addict who attempted to kill Claire multiple times. When Claire was in high school, she volunteered at a shelter for runaway teens. Whilst attempting to save money for a laptop through babysitting, Claire's mother took that money only to waste it, on top of leaving Claire alone for several days at a time. After leaving her abusive mother when she turned 18, Claire worked two jobs whilst living with multiple roommates at a time. She became friends with her college roommate, Kayla, and her boyfriend-turned-husband, Dash, though Kayla kept pushing Claire into doing things at college which hardly worked out for Claire.

Claire became a surgical resident at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital under Dr. Neil Melendez, who was overconfident and to whom she attempted to impress, all the while having a strictly sexual relationship with fellow resident Jared Kalu. During their first overnight at the hospital, the Shura song Touch played and the two had their first kiss during it.

Season 1[]

While Claire was working on the bypass surgery of Callum Reilly (all the while continuing her sex life with Jared), Claire helped in bringing in Adam, a young boy who had shards of glass in him. She then met Shaun Murphy, whom she initially took to be some weird guy, in later seasons describing him as “like a puppy”, that had helped bring in Adam and disregarded his attempts to get them to do an echocardiogram. However, Adam's condition worsened and Claire got Neil to hear Shaun out and she and Shaun were able to diagnosis the problem together.

Claire got into trouble with Neil after she promised a worried patient awaiting a risky surgery that she was going to be okay, considering they were possibly giving her false hope if she died. Shaun soon offered an idea to help the woman, only for Jared to take the credit for it which annoyed Claire. However, she in return got called out for her almost false promise to their patient whom Claire was ready to allow to die (though she lived). She soon learnt how to communicate with Shaun when they were trying to deliver an organ to Chuck (her first patient, who unfortunately didn't get it).

While working the graveyard shift, a mass casualty was directed to St. Bonaventure following a bus crash for a wedding. Noomi (Claire's patient) tried to ask about her wife Jenna's condition, only for Claire to realize Jenna was ejected from the bus and never brought to the hospital. Claire located Jenna and tried to help her, but she soon died at the hospital when Claire accidentally failed to intubate her properly. Dr. Glassman reassured her it was an honest mistake, but gave her strict instructions not to speak to anyone outside the hospital, or Noomi, about what happened.

Glassman soon had Claire speak with the hospital's grief counselor, who eventually told her to talk to someone about her feelings. She did so with Jared, who related as having a patient who just died earlier. When a shooter who tried to rob a store Shaun was at and a young woman he shot were sent to the hospital, Claire and Dr. Lim dealt with the shooter. Unfortunately, Claire found that the man (Nash Dixon) was racist and took things personally when she tried to put the victim over him. This led to Lim forcing Claire to watch over Nash, to her dismay. He kept antagonizing Claire while she was trying to help him, believing that she was punishing him for his attitudes and even worked out about Breeze's drug addiction. Although Claire thought that Lim was being unfair to her, Lim told her off for insubordination while Claire had to save Nash when his neck swell up when she left him. Claire soon apologized to Lim, who replied by stating how well Claire had done but that it was a shame that Nash was a Nazi.

Claire taught Shaun how to flirt after he mistook Lea doing so as her not liking him, all the while shocked when Shaun pointed out that it appeared that Claire liked Neil. However, the lab misplaced the specimen stating whether Claire's patient Elisabeth had cancer and had to work with lab worker Carly Lever to find it. When it appeared that they were unable to, Claire realized that it must've ended up in a mislabeled container. She was proven right and Elisabeth was cancer free but decided to sue the hospital so that something like that didn't happen again.

Claire ran into an uncomfortable situation with a new doctor, Matt Coyle, who seemed far too friendly. However, Jared thought that she was blowing the whole thing out of proportion. When Dr. Coyle made unwanted sexual advances toward her, Claire refused and later yelled at Jared for not supporting her and downplaying the issue. While she considered not telling anyone if the blame got shifted onto her, she found that Jared got fired for assaulting Coyle while confronting him.

Neil and Claire ended up working on a couple of conjoined twins, Katie and Jenny, concerning a transplant surgery, though they encountered some issues during the transplant of the twins. Katie at one point considered not having the surgery, so Claire was elected to talk to them to have it. She also confronted Coyle herself and threatened to bring together all the other residents he had harassed as well. While Claire was working with Shaun, she asked him about a road trip he had been on with Lea while realizing that he had intents on transferring to Pennsylvania. She also found that Glassman was angry with Shaun and so convinced Glassman to sign a letter of recommendation to show that Glassman believes in him. Unfortunately, Jenny died during the surgeries. Claire also worked out that Shaun wanted to be with Lea and said that she would miss him if he went and he ultimately didn't leave.

Claire was assisting in a surgery on a stroke patient, Cole Carpenter, who had an aneurysm with Dr. Lim who informed her that Coyle got a new job and a raise. Although Claire was furious, Vice President Aoki stated that she had no other choice as Coyle wouldn't admit to what he'd done and Claire didn't have evidence of it. While realizing that Cole was abusive to his wife Tessa who wanted him dead while their son also knew the truth, Claire all the same got Tessa to allow them to do the surgery Cole needed but she and their son were soon gone. Claire also met with a fellow victim of Coyle.

Coyle's residents - Morgan Reznick and Alex Park - soon ended up working with them, though Claire ended up in competition with Morgan who had a competitive attitude while treating Howard Shaw (a teacher who had fainted). Claire also had to help a young boy, Eric, who needed a liver transplant and the only person compatible with him was Boris Tirayan, a convict incarcerated for murder. Although Eric was uncomfortable with having a killer's liver, Tirayan ended up committing suicide while Claire saw that he did it to help Eric. Claire and Jared also attended a gala at the hospital together, only for Claire to not recognize the song Touch when it played which made Jared see that Claire never loved him and he broke up with her.

Claire soon saw Breeze again when she visited the hospital to apparently make amends, only for Claire to be disappointed when Breeze had not changed. She and Morgan also treated a patient named Lucy, who had a post-op infection. After receiving a prescription, she fled the ER, but Claire soon heard she apparently returned. It was revealed the woman they treated was not really Lucy, but an imposter who stole her identity. The real Lucy showed up at St. Bonaventure complaining of shingles and asked for pain medicine, only to be revealed to be a pain meds addict. When the imposter (real name Beatrice) returned, she went into septic shock and soon died, with Morgan and Claire ultimately electing not to try and revive her, feeling there was "nothing left to save."

Claire was part of a surgery on college student Caden Hauley, only for him to be revealed to be suffering from complications due to bleeding. She soon had to defend Shaun from Morgan claiming that he was the cause of it, which was the truth as Shaun was distracted since he was upset at how Dr. Glassman was apparently dying of an inoperable cancer. Claire then got annoyed with Morgan who kept pushing for the issue to be reported to Dr. Andrews, claiming to be thinking of the protocol, as Shaun could've been at threat of being fired if they did (which would've rid Morgan of some of the competition) while the rest of them would've simply been let off with a warning. Ultimately, they were able to help Caden through an idea Shaun had while Neil treated them all with drinks.

Season 2[]

After Claire was informed by Andrews that she needed to be assertive, she put it into practice when Morgan framed her as having come up with a failed surgery the team actually thought off together on a woman, Melanie Arnott, and Claire asserted herself to closing Melanie up. She soon said goodbye to Jared who went to work at Denver Memorial Hospital, all the while having to deal with Shaun who had Lea return in his life but was unable to figure out if he was happy about it or not and confront how he felt.

When the hospital started working with a 36-hour shift, Claire didn't think was a good idea. Unfortunately, Andrews still berated her now for being assertive (as all women are, to her annoyance) while working on Gina Porter, a woman looking to become pregnant. She then ended up in a fight with Neil after one of the nurses (Nurse Florres) revealed that he had insulted Claire's attitude but they then had to work together to treat Gina. She unfortunately wasn't able to become pregnant, but she survived the surgery while Claire, Neil and Florres made amends.

Claire was soon charged with treating Kitty Kwon, an avid mountain climber who broke her neck while climbing. Kitty tried to ask for a surgery offered to have her continue her mountain climbing at her level, but Claire tried to advise for one that was less risky but restricted her climbing. This was secretly because Claire was thinking about how she wished that she could've controlled Breeze's pain and how she affected others, though Kitty soon had the safer surgery.

While helping out on Louisa DeLeon (an anorexic mother who was in danger of being too weak to survive a surgery she needed), Claire ended up going behind Neil's back to suggest a way to Louisa to help her but Neil rejected. It still worked and Claire found that Neil had actually supported her idea, but he kicked her off his team (to her frustration). She kept butting heads with Park concerning Riley Mulloy (a young girl who the two had differing beliefs about whether she was really sick) and offered comfort with her experiences with Breeze when Riley had problems with her divorced parents.

After Kayla got cancer, Claire regularly helped her and Dash out but soon reluctantly asked Neil for help to somewhat treat Kayla's cancer. Unfortunately, Kayla kept badgering Claire about going out with Dash and being there for him after Kayla died. She reluctantly agreed and had a good time with Dash, but ultimately got frustrated with how this was another one of Kayla's attempts to pushing Claire into doing things she didn't want to. After Kayla was given the treatment to live another six months, she apologized for how she was to Claire who was grateful to Neil who still didn't forgive her. She then almost resorted to leaving to work at another hospital, but soon made up with Neil while talking it out with Aoki.

After working with Morgan to try and to help George Reynolds, a man with an embolism and had pedophilic urges but suicided from being hit by a bus, Claire worked with Neil to treat a patient whose bone marrow donor was trapped in a viral quarantine in the ER. After the patient coded, Claire reluctantly helped Neil to revive him in spite of the man's DNR. With the help of Andrews, they came up with a plan to successfully perform the transplant. Following this, Claire was blackmailed by Morgan into spending the day with her. It turned out that Morgan was in a relationship with an EMT, Tyler, who died during the quarantine and she didn't want to be alone. The two soon tried to help Breeze who was apparently being evicted, but truly appeared to have an abusive boyfriend, Carnell Hunter. However, Breeze was truthfully having cold feet over a possible engagement. The experience gives Claire new insight into and respect for Morgan.

After working on Sunny (a woman with a malfunctioning mechanical heart) and a facial transplant on Molly (a young girl who was disfigured in an accident), Claire, Lim and Shaun were working on Persephone, a baby that had severe birth defects. Persephone was saved thanks to Shaun, but he came under fired from the new Chief of Surgery, Dr. Jackson Han, after he upset Persephone's parents when he stated that they supposedly caused her birth defects. He then got transferred to pathology as a result, which Claire was upset with and tried to get Dr. Han to reconsider (without success). They nonetheless worked together when Shaun was called in to consult on a complicated surgery, while being there for Shaun when he was fired by Han and sat beside him, unsure of how to help.

After Shaun returned to the hospital with Zack Cordell, a man who Shaun claimed he found injured in a bar, Claire quickly figured out for herself that Zack had beat Shaun up. Claire tried to comfort Shaun over losing his job, while coaching him on how to ask out Carly who he had gained a crush on. After Shaun collapsed due to having truthfully been injured by Zack, Claire found that Shaun realized that Zack had been misdiagnosed before collapsing. Claire was then able to recreate Shaun's thought process and figured out what Zack had. Through this, Claire succeeded in figuring it out and saved Zack's life which she reported to Shaun when he was recovering. Glassman later used this to try and get Shaun his job back, while Andrews did after firing Dr. Han at the cost of his own job.

Season 3[]

While trying to comfort Shaun as he talked about his supposed disastrous first date with Carly, Claire worked with him and Neil on treating a newlywed bride who was discovered to have extensive cancer. At the same time, Claire avoided phone calls from Breeze, unsure if she wanted Breeze in her life given their past. After agreeing to advice from Shaun to talk to Breeze, they went along with a radical surgery to save the bride’s life with the alternative being almost certain death from cancer. Though it was a success, Claire had to deliver the news that the bride now required an ileostomy bag for the rest of her life as a result of complications and got to witness the husband promise to support his wife no matter what. Claire then tried to tell Shaun a speech about how it is all worth it to find someone who will love you and be there for you no matter what, to no success

Unfortunately, Breeze moved in with Claire after getting evicted. With Breeze clearly off her medication and drinking again, Claire gave her a week to find a new place. After she worked with Shaun and Andrews to treat a young man to repair the side of his face which got destroyed after he saved a total stranger from a groping on the subway, Lim later decided that Claire would be the first resident to lead her own surgery. Inspired by the case, Claire agreed to let Breeze stay longer with the conditions that she not drink, continue to take her meds and see her doctor. Claire also continued giving Shaun advice on his relationship with Carly, leading Shaun to take inspiration from Claire's description of a more relaxed and informal date to continue his relationship with Carly.

While Claire got told by Carly to butt out of her and Shaun’s relationship due to concerns Claire had when there were no problems, she and Breeze started seeing a therapist - Dr. Donovan - who was able to get them to make amends. Meanwhile, Claire soon got her first lead surgery treating Michelle Reynolds, a girl who had been self-harming due to stress from her mother Patricia which led to Claire being kicked off it. After Breeze made up for how she had been and called Claire her inspiration, Claire was put back on Michelle’s surgery which was a success and gave Patricia Donovan’s card to help her and Michelle. Unfortunately, Claire was informed that Breeze had died after drink-driving from having found and got drunk on champagne Claire was saving for her victorious first lead surgery.

Breeze requested that she be cremated and her ashes spread amongst the sea lions (which Breeze loved) at the marine science center, which Claire did with help from Morgan. Unfortunately, Claire got sent on a downward spiral following this and started having sex with other men. Soon enough, one of the men turned out to be married and a patient while Claire got slapped by the wife when the woman found this out and Claire was left to be comforted by Neil.

After treating famed football player Art Kelman whom Claire advised to tell the truth as he didn’t want to play football, she started seeing a therapist, Dr. Donna Malkin, over concerns of having PTSD. While she helped in treating a teenage couple who had cancer, Claire offered to relate to Shaun whose abusive father had recently died which he offered comfort to since their parents didn’t make them who they are.

Claire started spending a lot of time with Neil out of work, only for a favoritism complaint against him to be filed. While at odds ends with Park who claimed that it was him, everything between Claire and Neil got wrecked but they appeared to get through it while Morgan confessed it was her which she soon apologized for. Claire soon reunited with Dash when he came to the hospital with some recipes for Claire from Kayla and the two started going out together. Unfortunately, Shaun had his heart broken as it turned out that he liked Lea who refused to be with him. Claire tried to help Shaun, but convincing him to come into work didn’t help and he kept having a bad attitude while they were treating Finn, a salesman with dwarfism and two girlfriends. Claire helped save him which Shaun respected, while Finn’s car got destroyed after one of his girlfriends found that he was cheating on her. Claire also barely felt much for Dash and soon realized that she was in love with Neil.

Claire was made part of a HURT team when an earthquake caused a building collapse at a brewery hosting a charity event by Marta, a former patient of Neil’s. Claire and Neil had to work together to help Marta who was at risk of becoming paralyzed but they were successful, but then Neil passed out. Despite his protests, Claire had him brought back to the hospital where she found that he was suffering internal bleeding. Despite her and Lim’s attempts to help him, Neil had suffered irreparable bowel damage. Alongside Lim, Claire said goodbye to Neil and they said that they loved each other. Once he died, Claire and Lim broke down in each others’ arms comforting each other.

Season 4[]

In "Vamos," Claire finds her calling helping patients in Guatemala and is offered a permanent job working at the hospital there. With Lim's encouragement, Claire accepts the job offer. Saying goodbye to her friends, Claire congratulates Park and Morgan on their new romantic relationship, stating that she'd seen it coming and she even shares a hug with Shaun for the first time ever. After the others leave, Claire's first patient proves to be a man who desperately needs a surgery to live, but whom they'd earlier had to pass over due to him getting ill.

Season 5[]

In "The Shaun Show," Claire makes a surprise appearance at Shaun and Lea's party to sing for them. The staff is overjoyed to see her again with Shaun even giving Claire two hugs despite his usual aversion to them.

In "The Lea Show", Claire announces that she has been offered the job of Chief of Surgery back in Guatemala. Everyone congratulates her, but she seems to be wary of Dr. Lim's opinion. The latter later admits thinking it might be difficult for Claire to be Chief of Surgery because she can get strongly emotionally involved with her patients and that can make her take questionable decisions or risks.

Season 7[]

In "Unconditional," Claire returns to the hospital after finding a lump in her breast which was supposedly benign. However, Shaun diagnosed Claire with stage 1 breast cancer, and she undergoes treatment at the hospital. Claire also reveals that she had taken the Chief of Surgery job and overhauled the Guatemala hospital for the better, having seemingly found her calling. Claire is reunited with her old friends, giving Shaun advice on how to help Glassman with Hannah using her own experiences with addiction from growing up with an addict mother. Claire notes that Shaun has greatly changed from when they first met, from someone who was soaking wet and barely able to communicate, to a top attending and wonderful husband and father who is great at helping people. She also reminds Lim of the days when Lim was more of a carefree risk taker, causing Lim to use a more complicated and risky surgery to successfully treat her brain cancer patient.

During this time, Claire is reunited with Jared Kalu for the first time since he left the hospital for Chicago years before, Jared having returned to St. Bonaventure to continue his residency as a member of Shaun's team. Claire admits that she had come back rather than getting treatment in Guatemala because Shaun had told her that Jared would be there. Having greatly matured, the two recall their old relationship with fondness and regret for the way that it had ended, showing a continuing attracting to one another. At Morgan and Park's wedding, the two kiss and plan to go home together after Claire promises that it wouldn't be a one night stand. However, Claire suddenly doesn't feel well, passes out and is rushed to the hospital by Jared.

In "Goodbye," Claire is diagnosed with an acinetobacter post-op infection, a type of bacteria that is resistant to all antibiotics. As Claire's condition deteriorates, she and Jared profess their love for each other for the first time and promise to figure out a way to make things work between them. Claire's friends are forced to put her into a medically induced coma so that her body can focus on fighting the infection and then to reluctantly amputate her left arm which will end Claire's surgical career. Shaun and Charlie eventually devise an experimental bacteriophage treatment for Claire, but the FDA refuses to allow them to try it. Unwilling to let Shaun sacrifice his career to save Claire, Glassman -- who has recently discovered that he is dying from his returned cancer -- gives it to Claire who ultimately recovers.

Claire later married Jared, and they had a daughter together. Ten years after Glassman's death, she helped Shaun to open and run the Dr. Aaron Glassman Foundation for Neurodiversity in Medicine and attended his lecture with her family.

Personality[]

Claire's emotional intelligence (shown through her kindness and unmatched caring for her patients) and quick-thinking earned her recognition and respect from the team working under Neil (whom she was implied to be attracted to). These traits allow her to communicate the most effectively with patients and especially with Shaun who, due to his autism, has a difficulty learning professional social cues. But regardless of her caring and warm nature, Claire kept intimate relationships she had at a distance which could be seen in her strictly sexual relationship. This was possibly due to her upbringing with her abusive mother. However, even with all her emotional and physical trauma, Claire continues to demonstrate that the past does not define who anyone will be in the future.

After Breeze died, Claire started to have trouble processing her grief, even getting frustrated at a woman's faith in her husband. She stopped believing in people, believing that hope killed her mother and that no-one can change. However, she eventually resumed displaying more compassion towards her patients over time and started seeing a psychiatrist, Dr. Malkin.

Appearances[]

Ep. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
S1
S2
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7

Gallery[]

Promotional Photos[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Season 3[]

Season 4[]

Episode Stills[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Season 3[]

Trivia[]

  • She likes rocky road and salted caramel ice cream flavours
  • She plays the guitar taught by her mother , Breeze Browne.
  • She used to do morning runs with Neil Melendez , she stopped after his death in " I Love You,".
  • She was diagnosed with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) after the COVID-19 pandemic
  • She and Dr. Audrey Lim grew closer because of COVID-19 and the earthquake which killed Dr. Neil Melendez.
  • She develops many special friendships, like her and Shaun Murphy where they share their personal lives and give advice to each other. While her and Morgan Reznick are more competitive frenemies.
  • Her first surgery where she was a lead surgeon was a Open Cholecystectomy.
  • She drives a red SUV.
  • She uses many types of headbands for work
  • Her work hairstyles are a ponytail, side braid, bun and half up half down bun.
  • Her work outfits are mostly a patterned botton-down top or a no sleeve solid colour top with unique designs and blouses.
  • She is fluent in Spanish, as mentioned in “Unconditional”. However, she personally states that she is far from perfect at the language.

References[]

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