Abby Lockhart

Abby Lockhart
Maura Tierney as Abby Lockhart
First appearance	November 25, 1999 (Season 6, "Great Expectations")
Last appearance	March 19, 2009 (Season 15, "Shifting Equilibrium")
Portrayed by	Maura Tierney
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	OB/GYN Nurse (1999-2000) ER Nurse (2000-2002) Nurse manager (2002-2004) Physician (2004-2008)
Title	Medical Student (2000, 2003-2004) Intern (2004-2005) Resident (2005-2008) Attending Physician(2008)
Spouse(s)	Luka Kovač (husband) Richard Lockhart (ex-husband)
Children	Josip (known as Joe, son, with Luka Kovač)
Relatives	Maggie Wyczenski (mother) Eddie Wyczenski (father) Eric Wyczenski (brother)
Born	January 10, 1969

Abby Lockhart (married name Kovač) is a fictional medical doctor on the television series ER. She is portrayed by Maura Tierney. Abby's full birth name is Abigail Marjorie Wyczenski.

The character of Abby Lockhart first appears in season 6 of ER in the episode "Great Expectations", guest starring as Carol Hathaway's labor and delivery nurse. Three months later, she became a regular character in February 2000 as a third-year medical student beginning her ER rotation. On her first day, she meets Dr. Luka Kovač, her first teacher, with whom she will experience a number of professional and personal relationships and who will become the most important character in her long-running story. Lockhart's first months in the ER prove challenging for her transitioning from OB nursing to the ER. In that time, she sees Carter stabbed and medical student, Lucy Knight, killed by a schizophrenic patient, and also has to speak to superiors Kerry Weaver and Mark Greene about Carter's growing drug addiction. Although Carter is hostile at first, he and Abby become friends over the course of the next season.

Abby's medical training had gone into hiatus and she had become a full-time obstetrics nurse to provide for her then-husband Richard Lockhart's medical school education, but once they divorced she resumed her medical training. At the start of season 7, Kerry Weaver breaks the news to her that her registration for her final year of medical school has been denied due to lack of payment. Abby confronts her ex-husband who has stopped paying her tuition because he is bankrupt. She resumes her part-time OB nursing job, and soon Weaver offers her a full-time ER nursing position. Abby accepts the offer. After several generally rewarding years as a nurse, Abby gets her ex-husband to sign off on a loan so she can finish medical school. The loan defaults, but John Carter pays the deficit. While she fails her first board certification exam, she passes on her second try, and she earns her MD in the Season 10 finale.