This year on "ER," the writers have had Carol Hathaway start taking some pre-med courses in night school - and had her start thinking about possibly becoming a doctor.
But, apparently, that isn't going to happen."I've asked the writers not to let her become a doctor because we need to have nurses represented by strong females, especially today when nurses are having so many problems in hospitals. ERs don't run without nurses," said Julianna Margulies, who plays Carol. "I begged them not to let her become a doctor. I think that would be so cliche and so not her character.
"It would be nice to see her pass the MCATs and be able to get into med school and do it if she would like to, but I think the whole idea is that she's really good at being a nurse and that's what she was put on this Earth to do."
As for Margulies, she definitely wasn't put on this Earth to be a nurse - something she quickly discovered while doing research for her role.
"When I would go and follow nurses around, it was awful," she said. "You don't realize the smell. The smell is horrific. And I don't have the stomach for it. I always end up in the hallway with my head between my legs vomiting. It is the hardest thing to watch.
"It's a job I could never do. It's a hard job. These people really are heroes."
TOTALLY SUPPORTIVE: Mar-gulies says that all the "ER" cast members "miss Sherry (String-field) a lot," but she remains supportive of her fellow actress's decision to quit the show to have a more normal life.
"I totally understand. I'm in admiration of her move," Margulies said. "I think she's a wonderful person and is going off to live a wonderful life, and we all support that."
And the departure of Stringfield, who played Dr. Susan Lewis, hasn't exactly rattled the cast.
"In all fairness, it hasn't really been a downer," Margulies said. "It's actually quite uplifting to see that people can do what they need to do in their lives."
PERFECTIONIST: In the interview, Margulies did confirm a dark secret from her past.
When she was in high school, she really did throw a 50-page paper in the mud because she'd only received an A- on it.
"It is true, pathetically enough," Margulies said.
It was but a symptom of her own perfectionism.
"I've always strived for a certain unrealistic view of myself," Margulies said. "I'm so glad I'm getting older, because I'm realizing in my late 20s now that I can start to let go of that.
"I'm trying to let go of being a perfectionist because it's not a great way to live your life."