Jing-Mei Chen, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama series ER, portrayed by Ming-Na Wen. The character first appears in the first season as a recurring guest character, going by the name Debra "Deb" Chen. She departs the series towards the end of the first season, before returning as a main cast member part way through the sixth season, remaining until the middle of the eleventh season. Season 1 and early life at County 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 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 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. Season 6 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