Mark Greene, an only child, was raised by his mother, Ruth, and father, David. David Greene served in the United States Navy, and thus the family moved frequently. Mark had a very strained relationship with his father, and was decidedly closer to his mother. He'd often act out in an attempt to upset his father, and aimed his goals in the opposite of what his father wanted. Mark thought his father's Navy career mattered more to him than his family, only to later learn that David was on track to be an Admiral and turned down the chance in order to come home and help Mark with a bully. The most memorable time of his childhood was when his family was in Hawaii, a time he would later recreate with daughter Rachel during the last few weeks of his life.
While still in High School Mark met and soon after developed a romantic relationship with Jennifer (Jen). Presumably their relationship kept all the way through college, (Mark admitted he kept faithful and never had sex with another in all the times he was with her. This does not necessarily mean she wasn't.) and as he entered medical school sometime before or during married Jen, and his daughter, Rachel was born shortly afterwards. While in medical school he met future colleague Peter Benton. He then completed his internship and residency in the Emergency Department of County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, from there he was awarded the position of Chief Resident of the Emergency Department. While there, Mark developed close friendships with Dr. Doug Ross (a pediatrician), Dr. Susan Lewis (an ER resident), and nurse manager Carol Hathaway. Although Mark enjoys working the ER, the many nights on call and the long hours added to Jen's decision to complete law school have strained their marriage.
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In the pilot episode "24 Hours", which takes place on St. Patrick's Day 1994, Dr. Mark Greene is awakened in the first scene to help sober up his long-time friend Doug, the ER resident often comes in to sober up on his nights off. Also the friendship between him and Susan is shown to be close as the two confide in each other about their personal lives while on break.
Within the same episode, Jen gets Mark to visit a private practice near the hospital to explore the possibility of leaving his job at the ER, to give him more family-friendly hours. Mark decides the "clean" medicine isn't his cup of tea. Back at the ER, Mark removes a hangnail from an older woman, who wanted him to remove it despite the fact she'd be charged $180.
Later during the night, Mark has to urge everyone to get back to work when Carol is rushed into the ER, after a shocking suicide attempt.
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