Jing-Mei Chen

Jing-Mei Chen
Ming-Na as Jing-Mei Chen
First appearance	January 12, 1995 (Season 1, "Luck of the Draw")
Last appearance	December 9, 2004 (Season 11, "Twas the Night")
Portrayed by	Ming-Na
Information
Nickname(s)	Deb
Occupation	Physician
Title	Medical Student (1995) Resident (2000-2001) Chief Resident (2001) Attending (2002-2004)
Children	Michael Alexander (given up for adoption)

Dr. Jing-Mei Debra "Deb" Chen is a fictional medical doctor on the long-running television show ER. The character is played by Ming-Na. Originally, Deb Chen entered the series midway through Season 1 as a medical student. Toward the end of that season, Chen decided she was ill suited to a career in medical practice and would prefer to pursue a career in research. The character was then absent for more than four years, returning in mid-Season 6 as Dr. Jing-Mei Chen. After five years, Dr. Chen departed once again in the 11th season. Ming-Na's addition into the main cast opening credits was in the 10th episode of season 6 and her removal was in the 10th episode of season 11.

She experiences several difficult transitions in her years at County General Hospital. As mentioned, she suffers a crisis of career early in her medical studies. She arrives right in the middle of Season one as an eager young medical student ready to learn, only to quit near the end of the season after almost killing a man by trying to insert a central line into his chest. At that time, she decides that she was better suited to medical research than to working directly with patients after seeing and growing to understand that she was only interested in the science of medicine and not the direct application of it on the people that are affected by disease or the effects of trauma on the body. She leaves County and does not continue her medical training.

She was also revealed to have been very wealthy (although not as wealthy as John Carter) early in her appearances, since both of her parents were doctors; her mother (played by actress Kieu Chinh, who also played her mother in the movie The Joy Luck Club) was chief of surgery at another hospital. In her first appearance, she was shown to be intimidated by John because he arrived earlier and supposedly wiser and more skilled than she, but this was quickly dispelled when it was shown that he was the source of pranking and joke making for most of the ER staff. With the encouragement of Nurse Haleh Adams, she ends up playing a prank on John; Nurse Adams does this after seeing his initial treatment of Deb.

She returns to County General in the Season 6 episode "Family Matters" as a third year resident, after her wealthy parents bought her way back into County with a large donation to the hospital. Upon her return she expresses preference at using her Chinese name "Jing-Mei", although John Carter continues to affectionately call her "Deb". She and Carter resume their friendship despite not having seen or spoken with each other in 5 years. In this episode, it is revealed that four months after she quit, she was inspired to return to medicine after saving a man's life on a subway. She then realized that she had a talent for medicine, and her erstwhile rival John Carter was happy to see her back. They continue their rivalry for a while before finally learning how to work with each other. Chen also supported Carter as he recovered from the same near-fatal stabbing that had led to the death of talented medical student Lucy Knight, and was part of the group who confronted him about his drug addiction and successfully convinced him to attend a rehab facility in Atlanta. During this season she showed signs of being attracted to Dr. Dave Malucci. He reciprocated, and the possibility of a romance was briefly explored. However, this changed with the introduction of a male ICU Nurse introduced later in the season as another possible romantic interest.