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Just when fans finally warmed up to her (and her bubbling romance with Crockett), Dr. Zola Ahmed was fired from Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. But why did Zola Ahmed leave Chicago Med and what happened to Sophia Ali’s character to cause her exit? Keep reading for the reason why Chicago Med was forced to write out her character.
Chicago Med is NBC’s medical drama following the personal and professional lives of doctors and nurses in the emergency department of the fictional Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. The series — which premiered in 2015 and is created by Dick Wolf, the same mind behind the Law & Order and FBI franchises — is the third spin-off in NBC’s One Chicago franchise, which also includes Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D.
Dr. Zola Ahmed, played Sophia Ali, joined as a recurring character on Chicago Med in Season 9. She was one of two new characters this season, along with Dr. Mitch Ripley, played by Luke Mitchell. From her first episode on Chicago Med, Zola, who was described by executive producer Andrew Schneider as an “impulsive” doctor with a tendency to “overstep,” proved to be trouble at Gaffney Chicago Medical Center, especially with Dr. Crockett Marcel, whom she seemed to be developing a relationship with.
Zola’s mistakes caught up with her, however, in Season 9, Episode 10, “You Might Just Find What You Need,” where she was officially fired from Gaffney and Chicago Med for good. So why did Dr. Zola Ahmed leave Chicago Med and is she coming back? Read on for what we know about her future in One Chicago.
Why did Dr. Zola Ahmed leave Chicago Med?
Why did Dr. Zola Ahmed leave Chicago Med? Zola, played by Sophia Ali, left Chicago Med in Season 9, Episode 10, “You Just Might Find You Get You Need,” in which she rushes to get a pair of lungs to Dr. Crockett Marcel’s patient, Carson, who is in desperate need of a transplant and is running out of time. In her rush, Zola almost kills a living patient, which causes her to be fired from Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. (Interestingly enough, Ali also played a doctor named Dahlia Qadri on Grey’s Anatomy. Her character was also fired.)
With her now fired from three residencies in total Chicago Med hints that Zola’s medical career could be done for good. As for why she got fired, Zola, who has been warned about her risky medical practices several times before her termination, also found herself at the wrong time to join Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. Now that the hospital has new owners, who are more worried about lawsuits than keeping a good doctor on staff, there was no grace for Zola’s behavior.
After her exit, fans took to Reddit with mixed reactions to her exit. “It was a terrible way to write her off the show. The writers this season are a mess. Not saying she had to stay but to leave like that was so bad,” one user wrote. Anothe user wrote, “I liked they were definitive about their decision. I did not like the character.”
So why did Dr. Zola Ahmed leave Chicago Med? Zola was one of two new characters on Chicago Med Season 9, along with Dr. Mitch Ripley (played by Luke Mitchell.) Deadline reported Mitchell’s casting on Chicago Med in November 2023, confirming that he would be a recurring cast member on the series, with the option of being promoted to a series regular for Season 10 based on the audience’s reception to his character.
If Ali had the same deal, it’s possible that Chicago Med decided to not promote Zola for Season 10 and write her out instead. Ali may have also left Chicago Med due to her conflicting schedule and casting in the upcoming movie, Find Your Friends. Deadline reported on April 30, 2024, that the film — which also includes actors like Bella Thorne and Chloe Cherry — had filming had finished around late April, which meant that Ali likely had to leave Chicago Med earlier to work on the movie.
The Facebook page for CineCasting, which casts extras for Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med, confirmed on April 9, 2024, that filming on Chicago Med Season 9 had wrapped. Given that Zola leaves a few episodes before the Chicago Med Season 9 finale, it’s likely that Ali exited the series around late March to film Find Your Friends.
Ali celebrated the end of the production on Find Your Friends with an Instagram post on May 1, 2024 — the same day as her last Chicago Med episode. “Shot a movie in the desert! Had a great time! Directed by the great Izabel bad bitch Pakzad. Find Your Friends!” she captioned a carousel of photos of her on set of the movie. At the time of writing this, Ali still follows Chicago Med co-stars Jessy Schram (Dr. Hannah Asher); Marlyne Barrett (Maggie Lockwood); and Steven Weber (Dr. Dean Archer), so there’s the possibility she could return in future seasons, as anything is possible in the world of Dick Wolf.
