Ruth was clever, hardworking and focused as a medical student. She always performed well academically and didn't seem to know the meaning of failure, something which earned her admiration - if not necessarily friendship- from her fellow students. Not that she cared - Ruth's professional ambition had always come at the expense of her social and personal life. Being a doctor was Ruth's ambition from the age of eight and it seemed to be all that mattered to her.
However, once Ruth was in the ED dealing with real patients and real colleagues, she struggled to cope. After seriously misdiagnosing several patients and failing to bond with the team, she attempted suicide. Found by Abs and Toby, she eventually recovered and returned to work. But when new clinical lead Nick Jordan rejected her after they had a one night stand, her confidence took a further knock and she decided she wanted to get a surgical rotation and get away from the ED.
(Source: BBC)
