Who is Ava Bekker on Chicago Med? Everything to know about the character

Chicago Med introduced viewers to Dr. Ava Bekker, a skilled cardiothoracic surgeon. One of the most important characters from Season 2 to Season 5 was Ava, played by actress Norma Kuhling. She quickly proved to be a compassionate competitor in the hospital's demanding environment. 

Dr. Ava Bekker's character arc on Chicago Med was shaped by her drive to be the best, which drove both her successful surgical career and her very unstable, on-again, off-again relationship with Dr. Connor Rhodes. Her incredibly strong drive set the stage for her tragic end.

Professionally, she rose from a Second Year Fellow to an Attending Physician in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center.

Exploring Ava Bekker's role on Chicago Med

Dr. Isidore Latham supervised Dr. Ava Bekker, a talented Second Year Fellow in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. Dr. Latham admitted that Ava was his first choice for the fellowship over Connor Rhodes, which caused conflict with her co-fellow, Dr. Connor Rhodes. After studying at Cape Town's Groote Schuur Hospital and under world-renowned heart surgeon Dr. Marvin Jaffrey, Ava excelled quickly.

Despite their rivalry, they worked together, and Connor defended her surgical skills after her former mentor denigrated her. Connor accepted a position at the Mayo Clinic after their mentor chose Ava over him for a high-profile surgery to separate conjoined twins, calling Connor a risk for not being a team player.

However, Ava successfully sabotaged his departure. As Chicago Med's Attending Cardiothoracic Surgeon in Season 4, she used her connection with Connor's wealthy father, Cornelius Rhodes, to secure anonymous funding for Connor's dream project, a hybrid cardiac operating room in the emergency ward. This manipulation kept Connor at the hospital to lead the new program. As she tried to keep Connor from leaving her, Ava went from professional rival and lover to unstable and obsessed.

Ava Bekker was born in Cape Town. Before joining Gaffney Chicago Medical Center for her fellowship, she underwent extensive surgical training at Groote Schuur Hospital, a renowned teaching hospital, under Dr. Marvin Jaffrey, a world-renowned heart surgeon.

Her work rivalry with Dr. Connor Rhodes began with intense competition for Dr. Latham's approval. A passionate, conflicted romance developed from this competitive sparring. Funding for the hybrid O.R. was their main disagreement. Connor discovered that Ava had slept with his father, Cornelius Rhodes, to secure the funding, justifying it as "ends justifying the means" to keep him and his career project in Chicago Med. Since she denied the affair, Connor believed his father's version and ended their relationship.

Due to her inability to accept the split, Ava became aggressive and manipulative in Season 4. She tortured Connor with elaborate schemes. She deliberately injured herself during HIV-positive patient surgery, making Connor feel guilty. Her ethics complaint against him was strategically retracted. She even secretly performed a risky procedure on his ex-girlfriend Robin Charles' sick mother, showing her complete focus on undermining Connor's professional and personal life and her willingness to sabotage Chicago Med careers.

Killing Connor's dad, Cornelius, was the worst thing she did in her downward spiral. When Cornelius was in the hospital with a heart problem, Ava fixed him up. At some point, Cornelius coded and passed away at Chicago Med. The medical examiner found that Cornelius had been given an unapproved dose of insulin that killed him. The police thought it was Connor because of their public fight, but Connor quickly understood that it was Ava who did it. Based on his doubts, the surgical department at Chicago Med was looked at very closely.

In the Season 5 premiere, Dr. Latham's choice to test the insulin vial showed that the insulin could be tracked because it was tainted with chromium. As soon as Ava realized she was being watched, she told Connor she had killed the person, pleading desperately that she did it for them so they could be happy again. Ava cut her own carotid artery with a scalpel to kill herself when Connor wouldn't let her go. Right away, she was taken to surgery, but she died on the table.

Chicago Med episodes are available to stream on NBC.