List of Scrubs characters

The following are a list of minor characters from the American situation comedy Scrubs.

Recurring characters

These cast members have appeared in numerous episodes but remain credited as guest stars.

Jordan Sullivan

Main article: Jordan Sullivan

Ted Buckland

Main article: Ted Buckland

Keith Dudemeister

Main article: Keith Dudemeister

The Todd

Main article: The Todd

Doug Murphy

Main article: Doug Murphy

Laverne Roberts

Main article: Laverne Roberts

Kim Briggs

Main article: Kim Briggs

Dr. Wen

Dr. Wen
First appearance	"My Best Friend's Mistake"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Charles Chun
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Attending Surgeon
Occupation	Surgeon
Family	Wife

Dr. Wen, played by Charles Chun, is an attending surgeon who was Turk and the Todd's mentor for their first three years at the hospital. He has a somewhat serious personality, most of the time calling Turk by his full name 'Christopher', but often lightens up and enjoys jokes and the occasional 'Sterile High Five' from the Todd. He appears to be less of a jock than are many of the other surgeons at the hospital, although still got involved in a surgical versus medical wheelchair race ("My Way or the Highway"), due to having the same competitive nature as other surgeons, especially when it comes to medical doctors. There is much that is not known about him, but it is confirmed that he is married, as he was late for surgery once due to his wife being in a car crash and breaking both legs. Although his full position within the hospital is unknown, he appears to be one of the most senior surgeons, as well as one of the most skilled, although in some cases Turk appears to be better than him. In Episode 1.03, "My Best Friend's Mistake", it is revealed he is inordinately fond of the Erasure song "A Little Respect".

Lonnie

Lonnie
Lonnie (Michael Hobert)
First appearance	"His Story II"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Michael Hobert
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Resident (Possibly Attending in Season 7)
Occupation	Doctor

Lonnie, played by Michael Hobert, began working at Sacred Heart as one of J.D.'s interns in Season 3, first seen in "His Story II". In Season 4, he became a 2nd year resident and was taught by Co-Chief Residents Elliot and J.D. He continued his residency in Season 5, supervised by Dr. Cox. He has even been a part of the Triple Giant Doctor (in "My Ocardial Infarction"). He has three children "that he knows of", can grow a moustache in one day, and played Big East Conference basketball for Villanova University, where he was All-Conference. During the fourth season, he is strongly disliked by JD, in a way similar of his hatred for Keith, mainly due to his outgoing nature and perhaps more to do with the fact that, unlike most of the other interns, he doesn't appear to fear his mentor. He briefly appeared in season 6. Lonnie, along with Snoop-Dogg Resident will become attendings, fellows, or simply one of staff doctors, at the start of season 7, due to the progression of time.

Michael Hobert also appeared as an extra in the pilot episode, as a patient getting an MRI scan near the end of the episode.

Lloyd the Delivery Guy

Lloyd Slawski
First appearance	"My Old Lady"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Mike Schwartz
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Delivery Man
Family	Coleman Slawski (father), Uncle who was shot in the heart.

Lloyd the Delivery Guy, whose last name may be Slawski, his father's surname (played by writer Mike Schwartz) is a member of the air band Cool Cats with Turk, Ted, and the Janitor. He plays air drums. He has been in rehab, but is now back on drugs (though he does not use needles, and carries a straw) admitting to J.D. that he once received a DUI for crack cocaine, but in an early episode was a patient at the hospital after getting his penis stuck in a flashlight. He was also seen in a musical number after getting poo thrown in his eye by a homeless person. It is discovered that he is the son of "Colonel Doctor" when J.D. is taped to the ceiling in the episode "My Perspective". Lloyd also enjoys the band "Devildriver" (simply referred to as "speed metal"), which he aggressively blasts while driving his truck. This is introduced in episode 10 of season 6 ("My Therapeutic Month") when J.D. bums a ride from him, and Lloyd plays the song "Devil's Son", of which J.D. is obviously not a fan. In episode 14 of season 6 ("My No Good Reason"), Dr. Cox uses Lloyd as part of a plan to get Laverne Roberts to admit that sometimes bad things happen for no reason. She saw through it, though ("That's not her father, that's a delivery guy in a sweater."). In episode 15 of season 6 ("My Long Goodbye"), J.D. sent a text message to Lloyd to go pick up Jack from daycare because J.D. didn't listen to Dr. Cox when he said it the first time. Lloyd proceeded to blast speed metal from his radio with Jack in the car. During this occurrence, Lloyd lip-synced to the music while Jack air drummed. He has also been mentioned to be the loneliest person in the hospital. He delivered syringes and installed Elliot's stripper pole in the episode "Their Story", and it was revealed he was a hypochondriac in "My Turf War". In the season 6 finale, Lloyd is a part of Janitor's brain trust, replacing an upset Doug. However, he is fired from this after his tryout. However, in one of his early appearances when making fun of Carla, his nametag says Frank. Lloyd's uniform consists of blue shorts and a blue shirt. It is revealed in My Identity Crisis that his father's name is Coleman Slawski, and therefore he would most likely be Lloyd Slawski. According to RateYourDoc.org, Lloyd is now an ambulance driver for Sacred Heart after cleaning up.

Hospital staff

Over the years, quite a few employees of Sacred Heart Hospital – who often started off simply as background characters – have made appearances as characters on the show. These include (ordered by first appearance):

Season one

• Dr. Jeffrey Steadman, played by Matt Winston, is a brown-noser to Dr. Kelso. He was J.D.'s and Elliot's resident when they were interns. He was last seen trying to obtain the position of Residency Director (which eventually went to Dr. Cox) at the hospital during the third season. He regularly plays golf with Dr. Kelso, and in one occasion mentioned that he has a husband (and also once remarked that Kelso's penis was "like a baguette").
• Nick Murdoch, played by Sean Hayes was a brilliant, charismatic and handsome intern at Sacred Heart who unwillingly usurped J.D.'s position as best intern after taking the heat for a mistake from Dr. Kelso in the other intern's place. Elliot also had a crush on him and planned to go out with him. Nick was in charge of treating a 7-year-old boy named Peter, whose condition worsened despite doing everything he could, and soon his method of not letting the pressures of the hospital get to him soon failed. When Peter was declared terminal and Nick was forced to explain this to Peter's parents, he became depressed and resigned.
• Nurse Tisdale, played by Monica Allgeier, the most attractive nurse at the hospital. She made her first appearance in "My Own Personal Jesus", and has been seen a few times since then but is often mentioned.
• Alex Hanson was a social worker at the hospital and who dated J.D. during the first season. She was revealed to be a drug addict. Played by Elizabeth Bogush.
• Josh, played by DJ Qualls was J.D.'s Medical Student. To start with he was extremely incompetent, and J.D. almost caused him to quit, however eventually J.D., behaving very much like Dr. Cox did in "My First Day" is able to force confidence upon him.
• Kristen Murphy, played by Kelli Williams, was Turk's surgical student, who appeared to be the best student in the hospital. She and Dr. Cox dated for a short time.
• Franklyn, played by Masi Oka, a nerdy Japanese laboratory assistant. He dislikes pulling strings and sometimes outright rejects analysis. He also appears to resent the idea that he makes mistakes, as pointed out in season one by J.D. and Elliot, but under pressure admitted the allegation was true - although he refused to address it in any way. He had a problem with J.D. for a while when the Janitor tricked the former into uttering a racial slur against Asians in Franklyn's presence.
• Dr. Paul Zeltzer, played by Bob Clendenin, a skilled oncologist, described by Dr. Cox as the finest oncologist on staff, who enjoys prostitutes (turning down an invitation to a party held by Dr. Cox on learning there would be none present) and seems to have rather unusual sexual tastes (he and his wife once drugged Dr. Cox and Jordan with Rohypnol and remarked "Party time..."). According to the season one DVD commentary, this trait was given as part of common practice with one-off staff members who are deemed funny enough to warrant returns - when they do, a particular character trait is assigned to them, in this case sexual deviancy. Also, in an episode where a patient has a light bulb stuck in his rectum, he said "That's why my wife and I use candles." He has a strong rivalry with another oncologist at the hospital, and has admitted to having an affair with his rival's wife, apparently out of spite for him.
• Dr. Coleman "Colonel Doctor" Slawsky, played by Bob Bencomo, is a doctor who nobody seems to know the name of, yet gets his nickname from bearing a striking resemblance to Colonel Sanders ("My Jiggly Ball"). The Janitor watches surveillance footage of him using the bathroom so he can "freak him out" by guessing how many times he went during a given day. Like Dr. Mickhead he has been around since the show began, but was originally only supposed to be an extra. He is also shown to be the father of Lloyd the Delivery Guy when J.D. is taped to the ceiling in the episode My Perspective. His name was revealed in "My Identity Crisis." His Name (Coleman Slawsky) is a play on the word Coleslaw, probably due to the fact he is often associated with the K.F.C Colonel Sanders.
• Dr. Seymour Beardfacé played by Geoff Stevenson, is a doctor with a thick and bushy beard, which causes everyone to refer to him as "Beard Face" instead of the correct term of his name, angering him constantly. Beardfacé was formerly the fastest appendectomy at Sacred Heart until Turk took the title, a moment Turk considers one of his greatest. Elliot, so desperate for a baby, once said she would "mount (Beardfacé) right now!" and let him impregnate her, but since she used the "Beard Face" term, he refused and walked away in a huff.
• Dr. Jim Bianca usually referred to as the "albino doctor from radiology", has been mentioned in at least 3 episodes, but remains an unseen character. Has cheated on his wife with Nurse Tisdale and various other women in the hospital.
• Dr. Bonnie Chang, played by Lela Lee, a fellow surgeon who had a brief rivalry with Turk in season two for Dr. Wen's attention. In season five she is ranked as the surgical resident with the highest technical skills.

Season two

• Dr. Walter Mickhead, played by Frank Encarnacao, who has been seen and mentioned several times throughout the show. He was originally known as black haired doctor. One of the first mentions of his name was brought up in a joke ("You should hear what the interns are calling Dr. Mickhead"). In Season 3, Dr. Kevin Casey helped him to quit his addiction to huffing paint. A small story arc in Season 5 revolved around his involvement in the murder of his wife (Dr. Cox remarked in the Season 6 episode My Conventional Wisdom that he had just barely beat the rap). He is one of a handful of characters who started out as background extras for the show (he appears as pediatrician Dr. Carlson in "My Case Study"). In My Quarantine, he turns out to be one of many hospital staff members who had slept with Jordan during her divorce from Dr. Cox. Soon after Dr. Cox thanked whoever taught her a "Reverse Cowgirl" position, to which Dr. Mickhead replied "You're welcome". It was revealed in season 6 that he is Republican and that he is a surgeon. This contradicts the scene in "My Jiggly Ball" where he is shown wearing a stethoscope with all the other medical attendings in the wheelchair competition (or may suggest he has both medical and surgical specialties). He is also one of the many doctors who slept with Julie, (the pharma representative who was in love with Dr. Cox).
• Troy, played by Joe Rose, works in the Sacred Heart cafeteria and is the Janitor's lackey/sidekick. Like the Janitor, he hates J.D., who inadvertently insults him while trying to make the Janitor feel better about his role in the hospital, and the two often team up to intimidate and harass him. Troy isn't very intelligent (when J.D. asks the Janitor and Troy what two coins could be used to make 30 cents if one of them isn't a nickel, Troy attempts to solve it with a penny and a button that he has written 29 cents on), homicidal (in the episode "My Deja Vu, My Deja Vu," he attempts to hit J.D. in the back of the head with a crowbar but is stopped by the Janitor) and may be an ex-con. Troy is also a member of Hibbleton, the Janitor's a cappella group, and the brain trust.
• Dr. Amato, played by Jeffrey Asch, an extremely short surgeon who appeared in "My New Coat". He is often the butt of jokes for the other surgeons, and assisting him is considered a form of punishment among them.
• Dr. Ginny Gerson, played by Julie Hudson, is an attending gynaecologist. Elliot's father spoke with her in an attempt to have Elliot join the department.
• Lisa, the Gift Shop Girl, played by Sarah Lancaster, is an attractive young woman who runs the Sacred Heart Gift Shop. In "My Monster" she goes out on a date with J.D., who is eager to end his sexual dry spell by turning "Gift Shop Girl into Gift Shop Woman," as he tells Turk. Unfortunately, after a pleasant first date, J.D.'s relationship with Lisa is ruined when J.D. discovers that he has has lost his "mojo" (or, as he put it, his "peep is on the fritz") and he offers her no explanation. J.D. blames the hospital, which he calls a monster, for this unfortunate circumstance, which is fixed shortly thereafter when he sleeps with Elliot. Lisa later gets married, as revealed in "My Urologist" when Turk shows J.D. that women who wear wedding rings are virtually invisible to him; now a brunette, Lisa still works at the hospital but, because of her wedding band, has not been seen by J.D. for a long time. This creates an awkward moment when it is revealed that J.D. believed that she was dead and she was actually the person who sold J.D. the flowers he sent to her funeral.
• Dr. Townshend, played by Dick Van Dyke, is Kelso's close friend, colleague and opposite (the "Anti-Kelso") in terms of being pleasant, friendly and having a much more relaxed work ethic than Kelso. Townshend also has good relations with everybody in the hospital; the doctors, the nurses, the attendings and support staff (including the Janitor's Gang). He was friendly enough with the Janitor that he made him stop harassing J.D. and protect him from various hospital-related mistakes. Kelso, after looking through Townshend's patients (after one is seriously injured during a simple checkup procedure), discovers that his patients aren't on modern or up-to-date forms of medicine and treatment. Townshend confessed that he was "too tired" to keep up with new developments in medicine. Kelso reluctantly fired him. Janitor, no longer under Townshend's control, flipped J.D.'s car on its roof in retaliation. His only appearance was in My Brother, My Keeper.
• Dr. Gross, played by Eric Bogosian, is Dr. Cox's therapist for a period, and makes Cox realise how important J.D. is to him.
• "Crazy-Eyes" Margo is a friend of the Janitor and is, along with Troy and Randall, part of his brain trust. Janitor helped reunite Margo with her birth mother, a "tree person". Margo also enjoys rap like Ludacris and supposedly sold her children.
• Nurse Paul Flowers, played by Rick Schroder, is a slightly controlling, and somewhat feminine male nurse ("murse") , whom Elliot dated during the 2nd season.
• Chet, played by Jason Baumgard, is an uncredited doctor who is extremely tall, so tall that his face is never shown. He first appeared in "My Overkill". J.D. usually uses his lab coat while pretending to be the "world's most giant doctor" assisted by Turk.

Season three

• Dr. Norris, played by Christopher Meloni, is the hospital's best pediatrician, and is just as arrogant as Dr. Cox. He has an unusual obsession with dolls, and has a daughter who, unfortunately, hates dolls.
• Randall Winston, played by Martin Klebba, is a little person who is the current president of the hospital's janitor's union. Randall is incredibly strong for his size, having beat the Janitor in a wrestling match and once bringing him to his knees by squeezing his hand when they shook after the janitor's union presidential election. Randall is most commonly seen in J.D.'s daydreams, where he jumps out of a locker (and once from a patient's stomach during surgery) wearing a karate gi and punches J.D. in the crotch. Randall is the third member of Hibbleton, the Janitor's a cappella band. He has a very likable demeanor and addresses people as "Bro" or "Bra'". The character is named for one of the show's producers, Randall Winston, who plays the part of Leonard, the security guard with a hook for a hand.
• Snoop Dogg Attending aka Ronald (formerly Snoop Dogg Resident and Snoop Dogg Intern) played by Manley Henry is nicknamed as such because of his physical resemblance to Snoop Dogg. He was seen as an intern as early as "My Super Ego" but was not credited. He was first mentioned in the episode "My Porcelain God", by J.D. (he asked "Where my ho's at?". to which J.D. replied "I haven't seen them"). Was given the name Snoop Dogg Resident in the episode "My Fishbowl". He is also seen to be an attending in the episode "My Jiggly Ball", as he is balancing on a wheelchair with the attendings to see which attending would introduce Kelso at a conference. He later got a snake when a patient who owns a pet store gave it to him, he replied " My ho's are gonna love this". Again he was mentioned in "My Long Goodbye". It was revealed he had become an attending in "My Own Worst Enemy" after J.D. incorrectly called him an intern and then a resident. In "Their Story", he expresses annoyance that nobody calls him his real name, Ronald. He, like Dr. Mickhead, Colonel Doctor and Dr. Beardfacé, was a long time extra before being mentioned. Also revealed in "My Own Worst Enemy" , he has feelings for the new squeaky-voiced intern named Josephine and they reveal their feelings for each other, coincidentally as Elliot is breaking up with Keith.
• Dr. Julie Miller, played by Bellamy Young, is an attractive attending surgeon at Sacred Heart who first appears in the episode "My Tormented Mentor." Dr. Miller is confident and intelligent and very similar in personality to Dr. Cox. She once caused conflict between Dr. Kelso and Dr. Cox, who later is forced to admit to himself that he has a crush on her. Elliott, seeing a strong woman who she can model herself after, attempts to have Dr. Miller take her under her wing, much the same way that Dr. Cox has taken J.D. under his, but Dr. Miller promptly dismisses her. Dr. Miller and Turk have had several problems as well, beginning with Turk defending her after The Todd makes several sexist comments about her. Dr. Miller takes offense to this, insisting that Turk apologize for thinking that all women need a man to come to their defense. They eventually settle their differences, but find themselves at odds again after Carla uninvites her from their wedding. The issue is worsened when Turk asks her if she would like to attend a small brunch for close family and friends after the wedding. When Dr. Miller happily accepts, Turk tells her that there was no brunch and he only asked to make her feel better while hoping she would say no. Dr. Miller hasn't been seen since the end of season 3, although her name was seen on an assignment chart in the Season 4 episode "My Old Friend's New Friend appearing as Dr. Julie Miller."
• Dr. Ramirez, played by Nestor Carbonell, is a doctor that Carla used to have a crush on before he left the hospital. He returned in My Moment of Un-Truth and helps Carla solidify her relationship with Turk.
• Leonard, played by producer Randall Winston, is the hospital's security guard who is easily recognizable thanks to his height, giant afro and the hook that he has in place of his right hand. One of the shows many running jokes is that people tend to think of him more as the guy with the giant afro than the guy with the hook for a hand. When his relationship with second year resident Gloria is revealed, she states that she's "never going back" and Leonard tells everyone that he loves white meat. He doesn't allow bouncing basketballs in the hallways, and has confiscated (and popped) Turk's, because of J.D., on more than one occasion. Leonard lost his hand after it got caught in an ice machine (sometime between episode 1x22 and 3x14), and received a $5,000,000 settlement from the hospital. Leonard might also be bisexual, for in the episode "My Chopped Liver" when Dr. Cox is pretending to mentor the interns, Gloria says that her boyfriend is bi-curious and wants her to pick his lovers. This would only prove to be true though, if Gloria and Leonard were already dating at that point.
• Dr. Green, played by Ned Bellamy, is the head of Sacred Heart's plastic surgery department. In "Their Story," he tells The Todd that if Turk doesn't stop objecting to The Todd performing breast augmentation on a 16 year old girl, he is going to ruin Turk's reputation with all of the other surgical department heads. He has an odd fascination with bees and often uses phrases such as "bee's knees," "bee's wax" and "busy bee" in conversation with others.

Season four

• Dr. Molly Clock is an attending psychiatrist at Sacred Heart who is played by Heather Graham. According to Turk, Dr. Clock is the second hottest employee at Sacred Heart (second to Nurse Tisdale) and he would kill to have sex with her; however, he also disapproves of her profession and sometimes refers to her as a "devil woman". Dr. Clock is perky and incredibly optimistic, expressing great joy over the fact that the hospital cafeteria is serving kielbasa and believing that all people are naturally good natured. She is also very intelligent and self-confident, and as a result becomes the mentor and role model that Dr. Elliot Reid has always wanted. Molly has shown an uncanny ability to single out a person's deepest insecurities, once reducing Elliot to tears with the word "eyebrows." She has also shown a strange attraction to men who have problems with the law and slight mental disorders. Dr. Clock is one of the few people in the hospital who is completely impervious to Dr. Cox's sarcastic barbs, which annoys him to no end. In the episode "My Last Chance," Molly announces her plan to accept a position at a Milwaukee hospital and makes out with J.D. at her farewell party. Molly agrees to sleep with J.D. but only if Elliot tells him that it's okay. She leaves without anything happening between the two of them when Elliot gives J.D. a note that he believes gives him permission to sleep with Molly but actually says "Now we're even." Molly is last seen in "My Best Laid Plans" when she returns to Sacred Heart and ends up at a bar with J.D. The name Molly Clock is an homage to one of the medical consultants on the show, Dr. Dolly Klock.
• Dr. Akbar, played by Marshall Manesh, who appears in "My Old Friend's New Friend", and "Her Story".
• Dr. Kim, played by Lo Ming, who makes all his patients take off their pants, no matter what the issue. Dr. Kim is also Turk's Doctor.
• Dr. Hooch, played by Phill Lewis, is a surgeon whom Turk and J.D like to mess with. When he was first introduced, he was an easy-going guy, but during an episode where Turk and J.D. repeatedly said his name, he gradually became angrier and eventually snapped. Hooch is now very aggressive; he once knocked a man out with his shoe for trying to exit an elevator he was guarding for J.D. Upon seeing Hooch's extreme behavior, J.D. and Turk habitually respond with "Hooch is crazy." J.D. and Turk pair him with another doctor, Dr. Paul Turner (played by Jim Hanks, brother of Tom Hanks who played the titular character Turner in the movie Turner and Hooch), in one episode to create what J.D. describes as "a super medical crime-fighting team," Turner and Hooch. Hooch briefly replaced Turk as J.D's best friend, and was given the nickname Chocolate Bear Two. As of My Growing Pains, Hooch has been "let go," for being involved in a hostage situation. This is presumably due to Rex and three interns following him around all day.
• Dr. Paul Turner, played by Jim Hanks, appears briefly in the show solely to create the "Turner and Hooch" gag.
• Dr. Johnson, played by Robert E. Beckwith, is an attending dermatologist. He is often made fun of because of his speciality (what Dr. Cox refers to as the "most ridiculous of career choices"). He is mentioned to have a trust fund (as said in the episode "My Quarantine"). In that same episode, Dr. Cox further disrespects dermatology by saying, "Johnson is a dermatologist, which is Greek for 'fake doctor.'"
• Kenny, played by Clay Aiken, is a former member of the hospital's cafeteria staff. In "My Life in Four Cameras," Dr. Cox is forced to lay him off after realizing that he is unable to balance the hospital's budget without firing someone.

Season five

• Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio, played by Shaughn Buchholz, first appears in the episode "My Cabbage" and is J.D.'s favorite intern due in large part to his "dynamite ape impression." After Dr. Cox forces J.D. to realize that he's letting his personal feelings for Cabbage get in the way of realizing that he is never going to be a good doctor, J.D. is forced to let him go. Before leaving the hospital for the final time as a doctor, Cabbage stops to pick up a used glove and drop it into a waste bin, which causes him to accidentally spread an infection to Mrs. Wilk when he stops to thank her for being so kind to him. The infection leads to her death in the next episode "My Five Stages." Cabbage returns in season 6 as an employee at Coffee Bucks, the new hospital cafe.
• Gloria, played by Christina Miles, is one of J.D.'s interns who was originally known for falling asleep at work and her "abuse" of waving. Initially, J.D. expresses some degree of confusion over the fact that Gloria is significantly older than the rest of his interns who are assumed to be in their mid-twenties. Later, she's shown to have a somewhat active sexual life in spite of her age, once stating that her boyfriend was bi-curious and he wanted her to chose his lovers. She is currently dating Leonard the Security Guard, stating that she was "never going back" and is now carrying his twin babies.
• Lisa, played by Jordan Zucker, is an overly competitive and slightly annoying intern who is often aggravated by Elliot's blatant favoritism of Keith. Even though her husband has never been shown on camera, J.D. has stated that he is androgynous, telling Lisa to "call him/her" to let him know that she would be working over the weekend. She once lied about not sleeping with The Todd, but later admitted that she did, but only because she was upset over the passing of her father, to which The Todd replied "I wasn't."
• Rex, played by Aaron Ikeda, is an Asian intern who is often picked on and/or put in awkward situations. He lost the tip of an index finger to a patient in one episode, had one side-burn removed by Dr. Cox in another for the crime of his license plate being "PRTYDOC". Possibly the most egregious was having his chest accidentally opened up by J.D. with a circular saw in another episode.
• Mark "Wolfman" Cabbage, played by JB Ghuman, Jr., is one of J.D.'s interns who is overly hairy, though J.D. tells him the nickname is because of his "keen sense of smell" and not his "ridiculously hairy torso". His last name and Jason Cabbagio's nickname, "Cabbage" causes some confusion.
• Dr. Matthews, played by Jay Kenneth Johnson, is one of the hospital's gynaecologists and is considered to be extremely attractive by the female members of the staff. Many of the female staffers, particularly Jordan, make unnecessary medical appointments with him and lie to him about their age (when Carla tells him that she's 29, he tells her that he's met a lot 29 year old women recently). He appears to be on of the hospital's senior gynaecologists because other doctors are seen consulting with him. Dr. Matthews performed Carla's fertility test and is the doctor who showed J.D. and Kim the ultrasound of their son Sam. He also performed surgery on Dr. Cox and Jordan's daughter in the womb.
• Dr. Lester Hedrick, played by Dave Foley, is Sacred Heart's grief counselor. He helped J.D. and Dr. Cox cope with the death of Patricia Wilk, and has been seen intermittently since. In "My Five Stages", Dr. Kelso destroyed Hedrick's bike with his car. He made a brief appearance in the "My House", the fourth episode of the sixth season. Like Dr. Clock, Dr. Hendrick is able to annoy Dr. Cox by simply ignoring any of the sarcastic comments directed towards him.
• Dr. Stone, played by Paul Adelstein, is Turk's overly sensitive surgical attending whose first and only appearance is in "My Fallen Idol." Turk offends him when he is overheard telling J.D. how much he dislikes Dr. Stone's sensitive ways. J.D. goes on to console Dr. Stone with a hug, telling him that it's okay to cry. Dr. Stone retaliates by giving the surgical assignments that he had previously promised Turk to The Todd. After J.D. tells Turk that the best way to get back into Dr. Stone's good graces is to tell him a story that isn't inherently sad and pretend to cry, Turk attempts to reconnect with him by discussing the upcoming birth of his first child. Dr. Stone reveals that he has six ex-wives and seven children and that he is currently separated from his seventh wife who is pregnant with his eighth child. When Dr. Stone attempts to hug Turk, Turk back body drops him over the railing onto the pavement, giving him a concussion.
• Dr. Terry Flannerly, the radiologist who was responsible for Mr. Foster's death in "My Big Bird". He appears, as with most other hospital staff as extras in other episodes.
• Dr. Rotinaj, Asian Indian Doctor who referred to the Janitor as "Mr Clean up man" after J.D. accused the Janitor of stealing a scene from is film (Dr. Acula) and posting it on a website under the username Rotinaj (Janitor spelt backwards).

Season six

• Dr. Kershnar, played by Scott Weinger, who was seen in "My Coffee". He belongs to the same private practice that Elliot works for.
• Debbie, otherwise known as Slagathor by Dr. Kelso, played by Lindsay Ravage, is the most prominent of the Season 6 interns. She first appeared in "His Story IV" and has appeared in at least 3 episodes since.

Season seven

• Josephine is one of the new medical interns at the hospital under JD and Dr. Cox and is seen in almost every episode of season seven thus far. She is first mentioned in "My Own Worst Enemy", as the object of affection for Snoop Dogg Attending ("...she gives him wowzers in his trousers"), and is later seen reciprocating his feelings after he gives her flowers in the parking lot, much to the joy of rest of the hospital staff who had, only seconds before, been watching Elliot break up with Keith. She is under five feet tall and even Dr. Cox finds her pleasant demeanor and tiny stature adorable, referring to her as an "incredibly fun-sized intern" (the patient in question at the time is also delighted with her appearance, "There she is! She's cute.") Her voice is equally sweet, though very high and squeaky as if she were sucking helium, and only Snoop Dogg Attending is able to stand listening to it. Dr. Cox has her write notes on Post-Its rather than speak to him, but finds her hand-writing just as annoyingly cute, with the 'i's dotted using hearts and smiley faces. She is able to make her voice deeper, but it hurts her throat. She helps Keith give Cox's daughter Jennifer Dylan a shot in My Hard Labor.
• Boon is another new hospital intern. He is often very nervous, and speaks on Josephine's behalf, as Dr. Cox cannot stand her voice. He also ordered around by Doctor Cox, which led to his hand being burned in My Inconvenient Truth, though the burns bandaging showed up on his opposite hand.

Guest cast

Scrubs has featured many guest stars. Particularly notable among these are the cast of the situation comedy Spin City, which was co-created by Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence. Almost every major cast member of Spin City has made an appearance on Scrubs, including: Michael J. Fox, Heather Locklear, Alan Ruck, Michael Boatman, Barry Bostwick, Alexander Chaplin, and Richard Kind. In addition to those, a wide variety of stars from the television, film, theatre, and music fields have also made appearances. A full list of Scrubs' guest stars follows.

Patients

Being a show about a hospital, there are obviously many patients, many of whom help the main cast in some way:

Season one

• John Ducey as Will Forte, a young man who is generally thought as "cool" by many and is well-liked. Will came to the hospital in "My Mentor" due to breathing problems and, due to the fact he smoked 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day, Will most likely had lung cancer. Thankfully, it was discovered he had no cancer, but as Will was celebrating, J.D. revealed Will would eventually contract cancer if he didn't stop smoking. Will accepted this, but couldn't stop smoking. J.D. went to Cox to ask for help in reforming Will's ways, but instead Cox convinced him to give up, because as doctors, they treat patients for problems with their bodies, not lives. Ultimately, J.D. let Will go, but, because Will started smoking as soon he was outside, Will will most likely get lung cancer very soon.
• Kathryn Joosten as Mrs. Tanner, a 74-year-old patient at Sacred Heart who was introduced in "My Old Lady". She is a charismatic old woman who is put in J.D.'s care, teaching several important lessons on life. She "escaped" from the hospital and attended her granddaughter's birthday and is returned by J.D. to the hospital. She was discovered to have kidney failure, but refused dialysis treatment even though it could save her life, as she had lived a long and eventful life and wanted to die peacefully. Despite J.D.'s attempts to be convinced otherwise (including a list of the best things a person could do before they die) she remained committed and asked J.D. not to tell her family as she knew they would try to convince her otherwise. J.D. kept his word and Mrs. Tanner passed away that evening. In "My First Kill", J.D. imagines he goes to heaven to ask his former patients if he ever deliberately caused her death, but she, along with several other of J.D.'s patients, assured him she didn't believe he had caused her death.
• Travis Wester as David Morrison was an avid sports player, primarily baseball. David came to Sacred Heart to be given surgery for a hernia in "My Old Lady", where he bonded with the equally-cool Turk. During exploration surgery to locate the hernia, Dr. Wen discovered David had early stages of lymphatic cancer, which Turk told the worried David of before he was rushed into surgery to treat it. Due to unknown complications, David died on the operating table, though his father, who while never had the chance to see him there, told Turk he was glad his son had a friend in his final moments.
• Michael McDonald as Mike Davis from Connecticut who was first seen in "My Day Off" as a patient of Elliot's who had been pushed down the stairs by his mother for calling her fat, and saying other honest but hurtful things. He tells Elliot that although she is a good diagnostician, her bedside manner is terrible. He returned in "My Blind Date" with a dislocated shoulder and again in "My Case Study" with a broken penis, which he initially allows J.D. to write about in a medical journal, but later changes his mind and refuses.
• Nicole Sullivan, as flighty and nervous recurring patient Jill Tracy (not to be confused with the actress Jill Tracy). She and Elliot got along extremely well due to how alike they are. She was known to suffer from depression and relationship problems, which became more extreme up until the day she died (as seen in "My Lunch"). She was originally misdiagnosed as fatally overdosing on cocaine, but the cause was later revealed to be rabies, killing 3 patients who had received her organs. In "My Long Goodbye", she appears as a pregnant spirit who follows Dr. Cox around.
• Jack Shearer as Aaron Simon, an elderly, arrogant and influential member of the Sacred Heart Hospital's board of directors who was admitted to the hospital with metastatic colon cancer. He was first seen in "My Tuscaloosa Heart". He spent a long time at the hospital and eventually declared terminal, and left the doctors only treating him with the best pain medication they had. He was disliked by the staff, as he was hard to impress and constantly insulted the staff (which led to a male nurse named Frank, a former Navy SEAL, to cry) as he believed himself to be more manly than most due to his "man-sized ass". His last words, to J.D., were "Beat It, Junior!" Aaron, succumbing to his disease, went into respiratory arrest and, despite being given a dose of naloxone, being intubated, given CPR and even trans-cutaneous pacing, passed away. J.D. believed Aaron "went so fast" and felt guilty for neglecting him. But when Dr. Kelso and the Board examined Aaron's file, they concluded Aaron died on his own. He was next seen in "My First Kill" in heaven (though Carla hoped he wouldn't be allowed there) and he, along with several other of J.D.'s patients, assured him he didn't believe J.D. had caused his death.
• Don Perry as Mr. Bober, who first appears in "My Last Day". He causes J.D., Turk, and Elliot to feel guilty about becoming insensitive towards their patient. They decide to treat his pain aggressively by recruiting Dr. Cox, Dr. Kelso, Jordan, and Dr. Wen to cheat the system and have Bober's gall bladder removed. He returns in "My Brother, Where Art Thou?" with advanced dementia. In this episode, he was given the nickname Mr. Pickles, as that is the only word that he can say due to his illness.

Season two

• Maree Cheatham as Mrs. Warner, an influential member of Sacred Heart's Board who was admitted to the hospital with unusual stomach pains. Dr. Kelso initially acted like a standard lackey, but Mrs. Warner was only impressed when Dr. Cox, who she was like in nature, made her be quiet because of all her witty remarks (even about her son's extremely curly hair, which J.D. actually loves) and asks him to be her doctor. Dr. Cox later discovers she has a very rare disease that causes her stomach acid to erode her stomach, and was cured, but not before J.D. successfully asked Mrs. Warner if he could use her condition in a case report for a competition to win a trip to Reno, Nevada (which allowed him to win).
• Ted Lange as a patient who loses his sense of smell while under J.D.'s care in the episode "My New Coat", which he blames J.D. for, even though it wasn't his fault. By the end of the episode he has forgiven J.D. Laverne shows herself to be extremely attracted to him throughout the episode
• Jill Tracy as Elaine, who was introduced in "My Philosophy", as a middle-aged woman who became a patient at Sacred Heart when she desperately needed a new heart when hers began to fail. She constantly left for other hospitals but returned to Sacred Heart "almost as much as J.D.". The doctors kept doing their best to keep her heart going while Elaine befriended J.D., revealing she would be happy to get a new heart, but also accepted she might not live either. She also expressed her belief that her death will be like a Broadway musical, while J.D. revealed his philosophy; that for every patient who lives, another dies. Elaine's long wait came to an end when her heart finally gave out, and she died (confirming J.D.'s belief as he had previously saved a patient's baby despite narrow survival odds. This allowed him to get over the death of his new friend). In "My First Kill", J.D. goes to heaven to ask his former patients if he ever deliberately caused her death, but she, along with several other of J.D.'s patients, assured him she didn't believe J.D. had caused her death.
• Alan Ruck, as Mr Bragin, a patient who sued Elliot because she told him that the cancer he had contracted would kill him, but then managed to cure the cancer, in "My Lucky Day".
• Richard Kind as Harvey Corman a massive hypochondriac who initially appeared in My New Old Friend complaining of a rare disease that he almost certainly didn't have. Dr. Cox, in an attempt to scare him (as he visited frequently complaining of rare diseases), gave him a painful bone marrow test which revealed him to actually have a rare form of cancer. He then told Dr. Cox that he was just another guy looking for help that Cox "treated like crap." He apparently recovered as he reappeared in My Fault perfectly healthy and requesting a newly added full body scan. Dr. Cox attempted to convince him not to, initially because of a bet with Dr. Kelso but later because he believed it would ruin Mr. Corman's life as he would freak out about minor imperfections and would spend the next year having mindless tests done on him. Mr. Corman eventually agreed. He later reappeared in My Malpractical Decision after receiving shoulder surgery from Turk, which he claimed ruined his tennis serve. He harassed Turk to the point of following him home until Turk slapped a restraining order on him which Corman followed up by sueing him with the assistance of Neena Brodrick. He appeared in the follow up episode My Female Trouble. It was revealed that the only time people wanted to be around him was during tennis and that he didn't actually think Turk had done anything wrong. Carla uses this to threaten him into dropping the lawsuit. He does, on the condition that Dr. Cox play a game of tennis with him. He has not been seen since.
• Steve Susskind, as grumpy patient Mr Groff who almost loses a foot to diabetes in "My Dream Job", but fortunately J.D. figures out a medicine to give him which saves the foot, although Mr Groff is not very appreciative.

Season three

• Barry Bostwick as Mr Randolph in "My Dirty Secret", an Episcopalian with prostate cancer, who refuses to have surgery until it is absolutely necessary, as he is afraid it will ruin his relationship with his wife.
• Alexander Chaplin, played recurring drug addict Sam Thompson, First seen in My Moment of Un-Truth being treated by Elliot, he comes to the hospital pretending to be in pain, he then leaves whenever prescribed painkillers by his doctor, He has also conned Dr. Cox and Jordan. In his season 6 "My Scrubs" appearance Thompson was back at Sacred Heart claiming to be a reformed drug addict giving advice to other addicts. Elliot believes he is clean, however Dr. Cox discovers he is instead using his position to confiscate his clients' drugs for his own personal use. Dr. Cox decides not to tell Elliot to preserve her faith in people.
• Portia Dawson, as beautiful patient Mrs Bell, who helps Elliot realise that the perfect guy is the one who is there for you without you having to ask. She appeared in "His Story II".
• Kyle Sullivan, as Brian, a teenager with a piano scholarship, who Turk performs surgery on and accidentally lacerates the brachial artery, limiting the use of Brian's hand and thereby ruining the young pianist's career. He appeared in "His Story II".
• Bernie Kopell as Mr. Moran, a very kind patient of Elliot's, who dies when Elliot can't save him during a code.

Season four

• John Bennett Perry as Gregory Marks, a man who desperately needs a kidney. His only chance is his son, Murray (Matthew Perry), except that his son resents him. He is a natural performer and is always the centre of attention. They both appeared in "My Unicorn".
• Chris Hogan as Mr Gerst in "My Lips Are Sealed", a patient who, much to the amusement of the hospital staff, took too much Viagra and has a long-standing erection, which causes him much embarrassment until Elliot helps him see the funny side of it.
• Charles James, a famous television sitcom writer who was the intelligence behind J.D. and Turk's favourite TV series "Cheers". Mr. James came to the hospital in the middle of an E. Coli outbreak, believing he was among those infected, but J.D. quickly revealed he didn't and kept him around because he enjoyed talking to the writer. Eventually Elliot, was stressed with treating hundreds of others by herself, demanded J.D. allow Mr. James to leave, but no sooner had she said this, when Mr. James starting coughing violently. Concerned, J.D. had Mr. James have a chest x-ray and move him to the ICU. It was discovered Mr. James was suffering from metastatic lung cancer, and had only a few weeks to live, which J.D. and Elliot sadly revealed to Mr. James. A week later, Mr. James, as a part of J.D's sitcom fantasy, accepted the inevitable and enjoyed doing many activities with Elliot's assistance, and was delighted when Elliot discovered Mr. James's chart had been switched for someone elses. Unfortunately, this too was revealed to be a mistake, as Mr. James, succumbing to his cancer, suddenly groaned and collapsed and flatlined.
• Ellen Albertini Dow as Betty who collapses at home and is brought in to the hospital by her neighbour Jake (see 3.2 Romantic Partners), in the episode "My Faith in Humanity". At the hospital she learns that she has limited options, and with Jake's help, realises that it is time to die. Her brother is a lawyer who, worried about his sister, threatens to sue Jake, until he eventually realises that this is his sister's choice.

Season five

• Michael Learned as Patricia Wilk, a kind and genial patient who suffered from a very serious disease which caused her lengthy stay at the hospital. While there, she befriended many of the staff, especially her physicians (JD and Cox) and eventually, despite insurmountable odds, she recovered to the point of being released from the hospital. However, due to the last act of medical ineptness of Jason "Cabbage" Cabbagio (who forgot to wash his hands after handling an infected piece of medical equipment and then shook her hand just as she left for home), she contracted an infection which forced her to return to the hospital one week after leaving. But due to her already seriously weakened immune system, the infection quickly became deadly. Despite the efforts of JD and Cox, her health began to fail again to the point she was declared terminal. She became depressed and scared of death and JD and Cox went through the 5 stages of grief, but they were all comforted by Doctor Hedrick (a counselor for the terminally ill). Succumbing to the infection, she later lapsed into unconsciousness and died peacefully.
• Jason Bateman as Mr. Sutton, an unappreciative patient who raises ostriches in Season 5. Bateman was originally slated to play a larger role, but was unable to because shooting of the episode followed surgery to remove throat polyps.
• Mary-Kate Schellhardt as Carol, a cancer patient worried about losing her hair, until J.D. gathers up her entire family and convinces them to shave their heads, and eventually does it himself too.

Season six

• Stephanie D'Abruzzo as Patti Miller, a patient who complained of hearing music in "My Musical".
• Michael Weston as Private Brian Dancer, who is a member of the U.S. Military that served in the war in Iraq. While fighting, Dancer is severely injured and became a patient at Sacred Heart. While there, he befriends Dr. Bob Kelso and his arrival sparked a major debate about the war. The staff is so engrossed in the debate, however, that they begin neglecting him and their other patients. He helps Kelso realize that the staff needs a common enemy to unite against, and so Kelso ends the employee coffee shop discount; the staff is so angry at him that they forget their differences and return to work. When the day came to be released from Sacred Heart, he suddenly had another bout of illness. This was later discovered to be a failed suicide attempt; he had received a letter from the military informing him that his lingering injuries are too severe for him to be reinstated. Dr. Cox convinces him to keep trying, as he owes the Sacred Heart staff for all their support. Dancer agrees to see a therapist to cope with his depression. As he leaves, he kisses Elliot and promises that, if she's ever single, he'll look her up.
• Victoria Tennant as Maggie Kent, a friend of Dr. Kelso's, who has a bad foot. Kelso gets her treated, even though she is uninsured, this requires the cooperation of the staff and slight lies, Kent is forced to accept kosher food as she is listed as a male Jewish patient.

Romantic partners

The following people have all been romantically involved with members of the main cast, although the list is not exhaustive, as main cast members have also been romantically involved with people in other categories.

• Scott Foley, as Elliot's two-time ex-boyfriend Sean Kelly. Sean is a handsome and charismatic animal trainer at who works at SeaWorld. Sean quickly wins over all of Elliot's close friends with the notable exception of J.D., who is jealous of Sean throughout the course of his relationship with Elliot. Elliot and Sean's relationship has its ups and downs, with Elliot ultimately breaking up with Sean just as they prepare to move in with each other after realizing that she still has feelings for J.D. J.D. almost immediately regrets breaking up Elliot and Sean when he realizes that he doesn't really love Elliot and just wanted what he couldn't have. J.D. finally tells Elliot that he doesn't love her at Turk and Carla's wedding rehearsal in "My Self-Examination" and in the following episode, "My Best Friend's Wedding," J.D. sets out to find Sean in an attempt to fix his friendship with Elliot. When J.D. finds Sean sitting on the street outside of his apartment, he is shown to have grown a massive beard in the mere four days since Elliot dumped him, much to J.D.'s amazement. He convinces Sean to come to Turk and Carla's wedding and win Elliot back. Sean does, but he is unable to convince Elliot to take him back. Sean finds some satisfaction in the fact that Elliot has had her heart broken too and ends up leaving the wedding with J.D.'s ex-girlfriend Danni.
• Amy Smart, as Jamie Moyer, or Tasty Coma Wife (TCW), J.D.'s drama-creating one-time love interest. Jamie first appears in the episode "My T.C.W." as the wife of a coma patient under the care of the doctors at Sacred Heart. At the end of the episode, J.D. agrees to go on a date with her, despite the guilt he feels for doing so. Jamie's second appearance is in "My Interpretation" where she and J.D. consummate their relationship in a closet at her husband's funeral. J.D. convinces her and himself that she may need more time to grieve before getting into another relationship. Later in that same episode, J.D. realizes that he made a mistake in pushing her away and tracks her down at a restaurant. He tells Jamie how he feels about her, revealing many of the intimate details of their relationship, including the fact that they dated before her husband died and slept together at his funeral. This ends up being a mistake when Jamie introduces the couple she is having dinner with as her deceased husband's parents. She is not seen after "My Drama Queen", and no explanation is given for her disappearance, but it is revealed later in "Her Story II" that J.D. broke up with her for a trivial reason.
• Chrystee Pharris as Kylie. J.D. and Kylie meet for the first time at a nightclub where she is working as a bartender. J.D. is immediately smitten and believes that she is also interested in him when she sets up an appointment to meet with him the next day at the hospital. J.D. is disappointed to learn that she was actually making an appointment for her boyfriend, a fact that he missed because he was day dreaming while she was speaking to him. In the course of his examination, J.D. discovers that Kylie’s boyfriend has gonorrhea. He reveals to J.D. that he has never slept with Kylie and has been cheating on her, forcing J.D. to decide between his attraction to Kylie and the oath that he has taken as a doctor. He ultimately decides not to tell her, but she later finds out on her from another bartender who also has gonorrhea. Kylie returns to the hospital to tell J.D. and the two set up a date. J.D. and Kylie go on their first date in "My Quarantine" which goes horribly awry after J.D. backs Turk’s car over a homeless man living in a box and is forced to take him to Sacred Heart for treatment. Things are further complicated when J.D. suggests that a patient’s illness may be due to SARS, which triggers a lock down and forces everyone present to remain in the hospital until the patient’s test results return. J.D. almost ruins things when he pays the homeless man to fake a heart attack so that he can impress Kylie with his medical skills. He later confesses to her and is forgiven. J.D. and Kylie’s relationship continues to grow, with them scheduling “appointment kisses,” guaranteeing that they will see each other and kiss at least once per day in spite of their busy schedules. This exacerbates problems already present in Carla and Turk’s relationship and they ask J.D. to move out believing that he may be the cause of their problems. After moving from place to place, Kylie reluctantly offers to let J.D. move in with her, but Carla and Turk ask J.D. to move back in with them when they realize that they’re miserable without him being around. J.D. eventually becomes frustrated over the fact that he and Kylie haven’t slept together, which is highlighted when Dr. Molly Clock returns from Milwaukee in “My Best Laid Plans”. J.D. cancels his previous plans with Kylie, telling her that he has to work, so that he can join Molly, Elliot, and Carla on their girl’s night out. J.D. and Molly are eventually left alone, and just as J.D. works up the nerve to kiss her, he becomes guilty and rushes to see Kylie, who is finally ready to sleep with him. Still slightly intoxicated, J.D. tells Kylie that fate brought him back to her because he just was at a bar with another woman and could’ve slept with her, revealing that he lied to Kylie about having to work. This is the end of their relationship as Kylie immediately breaks up him.
• Josh Randall, as Elliot's boyfriend Jake, who was introduced towards the end of the 4th season.
• Mandy Moore as Julie Quinn, J.D.’s attractive, but incredibly clumsy girlfriend. J.D. and Julie meet for the first time when they are set up on a blind date by Julie’s aunt, who was a former patient at Sacred Heart. J.D. and Julie quickly fall for each other and end up buying a half acre of land together despite Elliot’s warnings that J.D. will ruin their relationship by moving too fast. J.D. and Julie continue to get along fine until J.D. realizes that she never laughs, choosing instead to say “that’s so funny” whenever something humorous takes place. Turk realizes what is about happen and immediately stages an intervention to prevent J.D. from ruining yet another relationship for a completely trivial reason. As a last resort, Turk forces J.D. to undergo immersion therapy by making him watch “Uncle Buck” with Julie, who repeatedly says “that’s so funny” every time something funny happens. J.D. realizes that he was making a big deal out of nothing and learns to deal with it. When Julie asks J.D. what he wants to do, he begins discussing their plans for the future and Julie tells him that she meant what did he want to do on that night. When J.D. questions her further, she tells him that she’s only 23 and she doesn’t see herself settling down for another 5 to 10 years, which eventually leads to their break up. This mirrors Zach Braff's real life relationship with Mandy Moore, who he dated for a year and a half before they broke up, reportedly because of the difference in their ages.
• Julianna Margulies, as cold-hearted medical malpractice attorney Neena Broderick. The mere mention of Neena’s name is enough to strike fear in the hearts of everyone who works at Sacred Heart except for Dr. Cox. She immediately causes trouble for J.D. when she pits him against Dr. Cox, who refuses to treat her father for fear of being sued. She later enters into a brief, purely physical relationship with J.D. in order to hurt Turk, who is being sued by a patient Neena is representing. When J.D. realizes that he is unable to stand up to Neena on his own, he asks Jordan to break up with her for him.
• Jamie Strange as Stacy Blue. Stacy is mentioned several times, but is only seen once. Stacy and J.D. dated for an unspecified amount of time while they were in college and though it is never stated, it is implied that they broke up when J.D. returned to his dorm room to find her and Turk naked and in bed together. Turk has always denied sleeping with Stacy, claiming that they had a water balloon fight while waiting for J.D. to return from class and took off their wet clothes and got into bed to keep warm. J.D. has always doubted this story because he was never able to find any balloons. J.D. calls Stacy to ask her once and for all what happened, but finds out from her mother that she drowned after falling asleep in a pool. In “My Fishbowl,” Turk finally admits to J.D. that he did sleep with Stacy after being shamed into doing so by Private Dancer.
• Maria Menounos as Tamara, who, in "My Extra Mile", dates J.D. purely because of his hair. She then dumps him when he shaves his head to go the extra mile for a patient.
• Kit Pongetti as Lady. Lady is the current girlfriend of the Janitor. Her first appearance is in My Own Worst Enemy, in a humorous scene where she plays into the doubt that the Janitor has a girlfriend, but in a playful scene twist confirms that she is indeed the girlfriend with a quick sassy kiss. When questioned about her name being "Lady", the Janitor mentions that she has a brother named Him.

Hospital visitors

These people have all visited the hospital at some time, either for personal or professional reasons.

• Heather Locklear, as Julie Keaton, a representative of a pharmaceutical company, lusted after by the men of the hospital. Had a relationship with Dr. Cox which lasted less than a full episode, as Jordan came back, interested in renewing their relationship.
• Jay Mohr as Dr. Peter "Pete" Fisher, who was an intern at Sacred Heart who became Cox's protege before J.D. Cox and Pete enjoyed a good friendship, in which Cox even trusted him with his secrets. When Pete learned of his failing marriage with Jordan, he took advantage of that to sleep with her, but Cox found out, destroying their friendship forever and, by extension, lead to Cox and Jordan's divorce. Pete went into private practice, and eventually befriended J.D. in "My Own Private Practice Guy", where even though they became fast friends, J.D. broke off their friendship after hearing what Pete had done. Pete, however, was ok with this, and departed Sacred Heart, but not before telling J.D. to enjoy his friendship with Cox, as Pete himself has always regretted what he had done and that it was the one mistake he wished he could change.
• Ryan Reynolds, as investment banker Spence, J.D. and Turk's frat brother. Spence was the one who advised J.D. to start using hair products, something J.D. is very grateful for, saying "My life changed that day". He was also the one who told Dr. Cox that Jordan's baby was actually his, and not a Greek bellboy's, as Jordan had led him to believe. J.D. and Turk blamed Spence for them getting in trouble at work from being out partying. However, Spence makes them see that they're just angry at themselves because they're not happy with their jobs.
• Michael J. Fox, as Dr. Kevin Casey, an extremely talented dual medical and surgical attending with a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. On his first day, in the episode "My Catalyst", he beat Dr. Cox in a medical trivia game, he expressed to J.D. his low opinion of doctors still looking for a mentor (unbeknownst to him, J.D. was one such doctor) and he performed a surgery faster than Turk, making the three of them blame Dr. Kevin for their problems. However, when they arrived at the end of the day to confront him, they saw him in a state of extreme disorientation and anxiety, unable to stop washing his hands. The three then realised their problems were insignificant compared to his, and, as he himself put it, "everybody has their own burden and I'm not going to be the guy who dumps mine on other people". In My Porcelain God, he attempted to beat his OCD by using the Janitor's roof toilet, and help Elliot with an intubating problem.
• Molly Shannon, as Denise Lemmon, an extremely talkative EMT in "My Last Chance". When Dr. Kelso suspends Dr. Cox for failure to complete his mandatory 24 hours of community service, Dr. Cox is paired with Denise for two consecutive 12 hour shifts. Later, Denise causes an accident from taking her eyes off the road and she is taken to Sacred Heart where she receives treatment from Dr. Cox. After having her sign the papers that verify he completed his community service, Dr. Cox unloads on Denise, asking her if she's ever had an idea that she didn't immediately voice and wonders aloud what happened in her life that caused her to be so needy. Soon after, Dr. Cox is able to piece together several clues and learns that Denise's behavior is due to her inability to cope with the death of her 10 year old son a few years prior.
• Matthew Perry, as Murray Marks, the son of a patient who needed a transplant from his son (in real life Matthew Perry's father). He finds out that he was in fact adopted, but still agrees to do the surgery. He is the air-traffic controller at a small private airport.
• Colin Farrell, as Billy Callahan, a charismatic Irish man who lives his life to the fullest. He is first introduced in "My Lucky Charm" as the person who assaulted a patient during a bar fight, and waited with him while he was being treated. After a short period time in the hospital, the female staffers fall in love with him and he makes out with Elliot seconds after their first meeting and almost kisses Carla after telling her that her hair is curly. J.D. and Turk begin to feel jealous and are shocked when Billy tells them that he's the reason that their patient is in the hospital and never met him before the previous night. J.D. and Turk decide to have him arrested and are almost immediately confronted by the female staffers , led by Laverne, who tells them that they have one day to find another beautiful Irish man. They are backed by The Todd, who tells Turk and J.D. that he appreciates hot regardless of gender. Later, Turk and J.D. are forced to admit that they are jealous of the carefree lifestyle that Billy leads. When Billy returns to the hospital for the final time, he makes peace with the patient who has now come out of his coma and tells Turk and J.D. that there are no hard feelings for having him arrested.
• Keri Russell, as Melody O' Harra, Elliot's sorority sister and a hotel reviewer for Zagat's. J.D., who feels like he and Elliot aren't as close as they once were, is immediately jealous of the time that she and Melody are spending together. He later tries to ruin their relationship when he tells Melody that Elliot said she hasn't changed since college. Melody later confronts Elliot, who tells her that she did say that, but she thinks that it's great. After Elliot accepts Keith's marriage proposal, she laments the fact that she is the last single member of their sorority and asks J.D. to come with her to review a local hotel. J.D., who is still shocked by Keith's proposal, initially turns her down, but Turk convinces him to go and take advantage of her now that she's vulnerable. J.D. and Melody "mack" on each other several times, but J.D. is unable to seal the deal as Melody tells him that he can't go to "boob town" because it's a "gated community." At Elliot's proposal party, Melody asks J.D. why he was so intent on sleeping with her, as he doesn't seem to be that kind of guy. He tells her that he doesn't know, but we later realize that it's because he's once again in love with Elliot. Melody is last seen at Elliot's wedding proposal party in "My Cold Shower." She has also stated that she was in a threesome, resulting in a chain of "Damn!" from Turk, to Doug, and ending at Snoop Dogg Resident. When asked if was "Two girls and a guy or a Devil's Threesome" Melody replied "All girl" causing another exclamation of "Damn" and also implying that she is at least bi-curious.

Family

Various family members of the main cast have appeared several times on the show:

J.D.

• John Ritter, as JD and Dan's father; Sam Dorian, who is an unsuccessful office supplies salesman. He was the main source of income for his family and, although he failed to get ideal wages, he still got enough so the family could get by. Sam and his wife, Barbara, got divorced when JD was seven years old, but he still remained a part of JD's adult life. He is good friends with Chris Turk, J.D.'s best friend, as they both act and sound like "real men". Sam was reported to have died after having a "massive heart attack" in the episode "My Cake" and Dan delivered the bad news and a triple-fudge cake (which is used in the Dorian family as a way of conveying bad news) to J.D. The character was killed off in the series to pay homage to Ritter's real-life death. J.D. has named his son Sam after his father.
• Tom Cavanagh, as J.D.'s sneaky older brother Dan Dorian, a hyper, quick witted slacker who lived with his mother in his home town and worked at a bar, referred to as "a self-involved user" by his brother. J.D. is very uncomfortable when his brother is around while Dr. Cox is generally disgusted by his lack of maturity and self-serving attitude and refers to him at one point as "the worst older brother in the world". However, J.D.'s closest friends, Turk and Elliot geniunely like him, the latter being somewhat attracted to him in earlier seasons. While at first J.D. shows signs of jealousy for his brother, it's later revealed that J.D. is slightly embarrassed by him, of which Dan is aware. Dan was aware that J.D. did look up to him at one time when they were younger, but realizes that it's Dr. Cox that J.D. looks up to now. Dan later asks Cox to promise him that he will never have a reason to let J.D. down, and Cox promises to uphold that. He also had a fling with Elliot, which J.D. surprisingly didn't mind. Dan also once slept with one of J.D.'s girlfriends while J.D. was still dating her. The siblings were estranged for a period when J.D. tries being honest with his brother about wasting his potential until their father died. But when J.D. makes another attempt to be honest with his brother, Dan follows him up on his advice and proceeds to apply for a new job, which is evident by the suit J.D. gives to him for his new interview. Dan is now employed in real estate, has purchased his own home and given J.D. a Prius. J.D. is angry and jealous at first for how successful Dan has become, but he eventually gets over those feelings and is proud of how his brother has turned his life around.

Janitor

• R. Lee Ermey as Janitor's Father. The role is in some ways an homage to and in others a parody of Ermey's most famous role, that of the Drill Instructor in the film Full Metal Jacket. He is instantly antagonistic to J.D. and displays the same attitude to his own son. It is suggested at the end of "My Old Man", the only episode in which he appears, that he comes to see his son every time he is in town, including the day after the episode takes place (it is unclear however whether this is a frequent occurrence or perhaps only a few visits in a short period of time) but he is never seen in the show after the episode. In the episode "My Choosiest Choice of All" it was revealed that he was a cat trainer, using a nightstick. In the episode "My Words of Wisdom" Janitor mentions that his father had died before he was born, when J.D. points out that he had met the Janitor's father, Janitor replies 'you met a man...'

Elliot

• Markie Post as Elliot's often critical and hypocritical mother Lily Reid in the episodes "My Old Man," "My Dirty Secret," and "His Story III." Lily would seem to be to blame for many of Elliot's hang-ups and insecurities. Lily can never seem to resist taking away all of Elliot's past boyfriends and even made a pass at Elliot's fiancee, Keith, who was appalled by her behavior.
• Lane Davies as Elliot's father, Dr. Simon Reid, who is chief of medicine at a private hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut, and who tries to pigeonhole Elliot into gynaecology, and cuts her off financially when she refuses. He is generally shown as a wealthy snob, due to his dismissive attitude to the hospital, and the bar where Elliot and her friends hang out. He was first seen in "My Old Man".

Turk

• Hattie Winston, as Margaret Turk, Turk's mother, who is a very forceful woman, who usually hates Turk's girlfriends, but likes Carla, although, to Carla's horror, this is because the two of them are so alike. She is also a Jehovah's Witness.
• D.L. Hughley, as Kevin Turk, who is Turk's wealthy, successful and rambunctious older brother. He came to Turk's apartment for a visit unexpectedly (and also forced Turk to let him use his bed because Kevin blackmailed Chris over the knowledge he funded his brother's tuition fees for university and medical school; which cost $80,000) and revealed to Turk and his friends that he is now divorced because he had to "get the hell out of there." He later confessed that it was his wife who took their kids and left him, and he visited Turk because he wanted cheering up. Turk helped him get over it by having a massive alcohol bender with him at the local bar.

Dr. Cox and Jordan

• Brendan Fraser, as Ben Sullivan; A carpenter/expert photographer who was Jordan and Danni's older brother and Cox's brother-in-law and best friend. Ben was an expert at identifying actresses who appear naked in movies (a trait that allowed him to become quick friends with JD, who had a similar skill), and was described by Jordan as "clumsy", which has caused him to have many accidents during his carpentry jobs. Ben was diagnosed with leukemia, which initially caused a strain on Ben and Cox's friendship (due to Cox unable to handle the fact Ben only had 30% chance of survival), but eventually JD convinced Cox to be there for Ben. Ben eventually succeeded in his treatments and went into remission. He then travelled on the "World Leukemia Tour" for the next 2 years and returned only in time for his nephew Jack's birthday. Cox (though he chastised Ben for not seeing a single doctor during his extended trip) was delighted to see him again, and then left Ben in JD's care while Cox made some arrangements for Jack's birthday party. Unfortunately, Ben went into cardiac arrest (a common complication of leukemia) 20 minutes after Cox left the hospital and died. Everyone at the hospital was saddened by Ben's death, and many senior members of the hospital attended his funeral two days later Ben's ghost haunts Dr.Cox to let go of the past, when Dr. Cox finally does, Ben dissipates. Cox sat in the front row with Jordan and JD, and cried during the ceremony over the death of his friend.
• Tara Reid, as Jordan's sister and J.D.'s two-time ex-girlfriend, Danni Sullivan.
• Cheryl Hines as Paige, Dr. Cox's born-again Christian sister who reminds him of their troubled childhood and abusive father.

Carla

• Freddy Rodriguez as Marco Espinosa, Carla's younger brother. During his and Carla's mother's funeral, Turk assumes Marco is a bellboy because of the vest and orders him to park the car. This causes Marco to carry an intense grudge. Later, during an unexpected visit, Marco reveals to Turk he knows English, but the others, including Carla do not know this. Turk uses sexual talk about Carla to anger Marco, causing him to reveal his knowledge. Marco confesses he wanted to retain a private bond with Carla, that is why he lied. Marco later tried to sabotage Carla and Turk's wedding, by substituting words from his favorite movie, When Harry Met Sally..., with Turk's wedding speech, but ultimately failed. He served as one of the groomsmen at Turk and Carla's wedding. He and Turk still do not get along well, but Carla forces them to cope with each other.

Children

Jack Cox

The first born son of Dr. Cox and Jordan. He was born in "My Karma". He is the godfather of his sister Jennifer Dylan after J.D., the previous choice of godfather, was rejected by Dr. Cox at the last minute. His first sentence was "Daddy drinks a lot."

Isabella "Izzy" Turk

Turk and Carla's Daughter. She was born in "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby".

Jennifer Dylan "J.D." Cox

Dr. Cox and Jordan's second child. She was born in My Long Goodbye. Jennifer was diagnosed with hydronephrosis and had to undergo fetal surgery, a procedure on which Turk assisted. She was baptized in "My Point of No Return" with her older brother Jack and Carla as godparents. Her original godfather was to be J.D., who also named her so that she too would be J.D.

Sam Dorian

J.D. and Kim's son. J.D. names the child Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian. Sam, after J.D.'s deceased father; Perry, obviously, after Dr. Cox (although J.D. states that he "just likes the sound of it"); Gilligan, for a bet he lost with Turk to name their first male child as such. He was born in My Hard Labor.

Harrison Kelso

Harrison is Dr. Kelso's son, he is an unseen character. He is effeminately gay and frequently has different lovers during different seasons. He wrote an off-Broadway play about his father entitled "Dr. Dad" and briefly dated the actor playing Kelso. This play actually turned out to be a front for a crystal meth lab. He also owned a yarn shop in Minneapolis. Dr. Kelso remarks in his brain during His Story IV that if J.D. were gay, he and Harrison would be perfect together.

Trong Tri Kelso

Another son of Dr. Kelso's, who he fathered while having an affair. In "My Best Laid Plans" Kelso stated he was "just friends" with a Vietnamese girl once, adding, "Long story short, I'm on the hook for sending Trong Tri Kelso to college and he doesn't want to go to a state school." Kelso later, in Vietnamese, talks to his son on the phone.

Animals

Rowdy

A stuffed Yellow Lab, mentioned or seen in a large number of episodes, even being included in the hospitals' annual staff photograph in the season five episode 'My Missed Perception'. J.D. and Turk bought him back when they were at college, from an old man at a garage sale, who had him in a box full of old hats. Ever since, he has been a loyal, if inanimate, companion to J.D. and Turk. During the holidays he wears a pair of antlers, his partially-open mouth can be used to open bottles, and he is often used for pranks (usually involving leaving him an unexpected place to be found by the victim, such as leaving him to "guard Carla's shoes" or leaving him on neighbors doorsteps and scolding him for "running away" when he is returned). J.D. also uses Rowdy to practice his kissing technique. Both of them have grown very close to Rowdy, even arguing about who would get to keep him when JD moved out. Carla and Elliot, on the other hand, find Rowdy creepy and it was Carla's dislike for him that led to J.D. keeping him. Was referred to as a "ghost dog" by Ted. J.D. mentions that he had to have "Rowdy style" sex with his pregnant girlfriend Kim.

Steven

Another stuffed dog that the Janitor sold his squirrel army for. Almost identical to Rowdy, he is only two inches shorter than his counterpart "on a good day." Carla replaced Rowdy with Steven after she inadvertently lost Rowdy while trying to have him groomed. Turk suspected from the very beginning that something was different about his dog, but Carla distracted him (since it was her doing in the first place). Eventually, Carla came clean about the lie, after the Janitor was able to find the original Rowdy, and was tricked into giving it back to Turk, thereby giving both J.D. and Turk their own stuffed dog. J.D. claims to be able to tell the difference by feeling between their legs, but will not say how or why he knows that.

Baxter

Baxter, "played" by Ken Jenkins' real pet dog, was Dr. Kelso's dog. Baxter was highly trained and pampered by Kelso, and as such he was very smart, and Kelso prized him highly. Ted once lost a competition to Baxter while trying to prove he was smarter. It was revealed in "My Common Enemy" that he had lost one of his ears in an attempted extermination of the giant bat in Kelso's attic. Baxter died in "My Chopped Liver", an event which caused no small amount of grief for Dr. Kelso. He dealt with the loss emotionally but still cried for nearly two days straight, eventually dehydrating himself to the point of being physically unable to cry anymore, with the side affect of seeing imaginary doctors, and had to get an IV.

Boomer

Originally, Boomer belonged to a patient, and Elliot wanted to bring him in to the hospital for a visit. She succeeded in sneaking him in, but was later discovered by Dr. Kelso. The patient eventually dies, leaving Boomer without a home. Elliot implored Kelso to keep Boomer, even if he can never truly replace Baxter. Kelso eventually takes Boomer home.

Sanchez

Sanchez is the raven whom The Janitor befriends in My Cabbage. Dr. Kelso orders The Janitor to get rid of it to eliminate the risk of infection; The Janitor complies, but grows fond of the bird and keeps it as a pet, naming it Sanchez. He uses Sanchez to further pester J.D. until Kelso catches sight of it. The Janitor then pretends to kill and stuff Sanchez, secretly releasing him with the words, "Tienes mi corazón Sanchez, tienes mi corazón." (Spanish for, "You have my heart Sanchez, you have my heart.)

Cameo appearances

Scrubs has featured many cameo appearances over the years. Generally (though there are exceptions), the stars either play themselves (as with David Copperfield, whom J.D. met in a bar) or play a lookalike of themselves (as with Gary Busey, who played a doctor who looks like Gary Busey).

• Season one
  • Louie Anderson- As himself, hosting Family Feud in a J.D. fantasy.
  • Jimmie Walker- As himself.
  • Carrot Top- As Dr. Kelso after he removes his mask, in a J.D. fantasy.
  • William Daniels- As a hospitalized "Dr. Douglas".
  • Stephen Furst- As a hospitalized "Dr. Franklyn".
  • Ed Begley Jr- As a hospitalized "Dr. Bailey".
  • Eric Laneuville- As a hospitalized "Dr. Lamar".

• Season two
  • Colin Hay- As an unnamed troubadour.
  • David Copperfield- As himself in a J.D. flashback.
  • Jay Leno- As himself on the Tonight Show, in a J.D. fantasy.
  • Fred "Rerun" Berry- As himself in a J.D. fantasy.

• Season three
  • Maureen McCormick- As herself in a J.D. marriage fantasy.
  • Erik Estrada- As himself in a J.D. flashback.
  • The Polyphonic Spree- As themselves, performing when a member of their band is sick.
  • Larry Thomas- As himself.
  • George Takei- As a priest who bears a remarkable resemblance to Mr. Sulu.

• Season four
  • Chuck Woolery- As himself.
  • Sugar Hill Gang- As themselves
  • Common - As himself
  • Colin Farrel as an Irish 'friend' of a patient who lived life fully.
• Season five
  • Gary Busey- As an unnamed doctor who bears a resemblance to Gary Busey.
  • Billy Dee Williams- As himself, and J.D.'s then-girlfriend Julie's godfather.
  • Kareem Abdul-Jabbar- As himself playing for Keith's Father's flag football team.

• Season six
  • Blue Man Group- As themselves.

• Season seven
  • Efren Ramirez- As Ricky "Caramel Bear".