Though The Resident includes a wide ensemble of doctors at the fictional Chastain Park Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, Conrad Hawkins (Matt Czuchry) is seen as the main character and the titular resident. Dr. Hawkins is an intense and arrogant chief resident who is known for being tough on those working under him and demanding the best. He also fights back against the bureaucracy of the healthcare industry, hoping to make a real difference as a doctor.
Despite his intense aspects, Hawkins endeared himself to audiences due to his skill as a doctor and his relationship with nurse practitioner Nicolette ‘Nic’ Nevin (Emily VanCamp). The Resident season 7 will not be happening following the show’s cancelation, leaving a lot of unanswered questions about Dr. Hawkins’ future. However, there are also small aspects of the character that fans might not be aware of and make for a fun way of revisiting The Resident’s Conrad Hawkins.
13 Chastain Has No Diagnosticians Better Than Conrad Hawkins
Dr. Hawkins Is One Of The Most Skilled Doctors In The Resident
“Arrogant” is a word that can often describe Dr. Conrad Hawkins in The Resident. However, far from making him an unlikable character, many fans see his boundless and unashamed self-confidence as a kind of endearing cockiness. A key reason Conrad Hawkins gets away with being so self-assured (besides actor Matt Czuchry playing the character so well) is that Dr. Hawkins can back up his boasting with results.
He may have an inflated ego, but Dr. Hawkins isn’t delusional about his abilities, and – notwithstanding his many success stories with dozens of patients, of course – this was proved in the show’s third season. In The Resident season 3, episode 9, “Out For Blood”, it’s revealed just how competent Conrad Hawkins truly is, even compared to the other doctors and medical staff at Chastain Park. Conrad is listed as the number one diagnostician at Chastain in “Out For Blood”, and it was also revealed he was in line for Chief Resident, a title he managed to claim by episode 13 of the same season.
12 Italy Is Conrad’s Place Of Birth
Conrad And Nic Both Come From Lamezia Terme
Despite the show containing multiple flashbacks, and Dr. Hawkins being the titular resident in The Resident, there isn’t a huge amount of detail about his childhood. However, a particularly interesting fact about his youth is that Conrad Hawkins was born in Lamezia Terme, Italy. What’s more, so was his doomed on-again, off-again love interest, Nic (Emily Vancamp). Since both he and Nic are American citizens and never hinted at having dual citizenship, it’s unclear exactly why their respective parents were in Italy at the time of their birth.
However, this fact does help fill in a few gaps about Conrad and Nics relationship. It’s mentioned several times that Nic and Conrad had known each wasother since childhood. What’s more, they’d already had a romantic entanglement prior to the events of The Resident pilot episode. Knowing that both were born in Lamezia Terme, it’s clear they stayed in Italy long enough to meet one-another as children. The lack of Italian accents also suggests they lived in a community of families hailing from the U.S..
11 Being A Doctor Was Conrad’s Dream For A Long Time
An Incident In His Adolescence Inspired His Choice Of Career
Another piece of the puzzle that is the childhood of Conrad Hawkins was also revealed in The Resident – specifically, when he decided to become a doctor. Dr. Hawkins had an interesting life prior to joining the staff at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital. Before entering medicine, he was a Medical Corpsman with the Marines. While this fact warrants investigation in its own right, medicine isn’t a career Conrad simply fell into due to his experience in the Marine Corps. He chose his future profession far earlier than he enlisted.
Conrad Hawkins decided to become a Doctor at age 14. The Resident reveals through conversation between Hawkins and his colleagues that he’d aspired to enter medicine since he was a teenager, and it was a choice triggered by a very specific incident. While barely in highschool, Conrad witnessed a potentially fatal car accident involving a child. The only reason the event didn’t become a mentally-scarring tragedy is that a doctor at the scene was able to save the young victim – all witnessed by an awe-struck Conrad Hawkins. This single moment led to him becoming the Dr. Hawkins fans know and love in The Resident.
10 Conrad Hawkins Served As A Medical Corpsman
Conrad’s Military Past Helps Explain His Strong Attitude
Given the way he can come off as rather intense, he is not the most open of people and aspects of Dr. Hawkins’s past are revealed gradually to the other characters in the show. Early on in the first season of the medical drama, it is revealed that Hawkins was in the Marine Corps serving as a Medical Corpsman. Fans could have picked up on that through Conrad’s rough attitude and his stern leadership tactics with new junior Dr. Devon Pravesh.
[It] not only shows his dedication towards his practice and his country but also prepared him for life at Chastain.
As a Marine Doctor, he spent most of his time helping injured soldiers, which not only shows his dedication towards his practice and his country but also prepared him for life at Chastain. This is also how he came to know and later befriend Dr. Jude Silva, who served as Nic’s love interest earlier on in the 1st season.
9 In His Spare Time, Conrad Hawkins Is A Search And Rescue Volunteer
Dr. Hawkins’s Life-Saving Efforts Go Beyond The Hospital Setting
Throughout The Resident, viewers have been exposed to Conrad Hawkins’s life-saving skills mainly within the four walls of Chastain Memorial Park Hospital. However, in season 2, episode 21, “Stuck as Foretold”, Conrad is seen volunteering with the Georgia Search and Rescue team. Conrad comes across an injured young man who had apparently been the victim of a homophobic attack by his friends. He treats the young man even giving him a blood transfusion.
It is made apparent in this episode that Dr. Hawkins regularly volunteers with the Georgia Search and Rescue team. It is another example of the doctor dedicating himself to helping people in any way he can. It also highlights the frustrations that Dr. Hawkins has with the hospital job at times as he seeks to help people without having to contend with the politics of the medical world.
8 Atlanta, Georgia Is An Important Part Of His Life
Dr. Hawkins Has Various Ties To The Show’s Central Setting
The Resident is one of many shows filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, but it also makes this a key setting for the medical drama. Not only is that where the fictional hospital is located, but Dr. Hawkins is made to be a part of the Atlanta community outside of work. This includes a storyline in the third season of the show when he signs on as a team doctor for the Georgia Revolution FC, the local soccer team. He took on that role to help the injured kids on the team and further contribute to his community.
It is also revealed earlier on in the first season that he might have gone to college in Atlanta when he is brought in to treat an old college professor. He also frequents the best local bars in the area and has proven to be quite a fond member of his community.
7 Conrad Hawkins Can Be A Master Manipulator And Rule Breaker
Conrad’s Rogue Acts Are Meant To Help His Patients
While not on the same level of moral ambiguity as some television anti-heroes, Dr. Hawkins has shown that he is willing to break the rules if he deems it necessary. In season 1, episode 2, “Independence Day”, Conrad manipulates lab assistant Noni Turner and tampers with blood samples so his patient can get a heart transplant. It is suggested that this is a one-time occurrence.
Dr. Conrad Hawkins has repeatedly shown that he will do what it takes to get his way and take a stance against the “rules” of the medical establishment.
However, it seems as though Conrad Hawkins is not one to uphold rules. In the season 2 premiere, he manipulates Dr. Pravesh to go against Dr. Bell’s instructions and treat a patient amidst a dangerous power blackout. In season 3, episode 10, “WhistleBlower”, Conrad lies about a patient’s condition to ensure they are eligible for a transplant. Even though he prioritizes his patients’ health in these acts, Dr. Conrad Hawkins has repeatedly shown that he will do what it takes to get his way and take a stance against the “rules” of the medical establishment.
6 Dr. Hawkins Was In Love With Catherine
Conrad’s Ex-Fiance Was Introduced In Season 1
Dr. Hawkins’s love life had been a central part of the drama on The Resident. One of the most compelling storylines of the series was his romance with Nic only for it to end in tragedy. Surprisingly, Conrad and Billie formed a romance later in The Resident. However, it was also established in The Resident that there was someone that Dr. Hawkins loved earlier in his life with the revelation that Catherine Loy was his ex-fiance.
However, before Nic, Conrad gave his grandmother’s ring to his ex-fiance, Catherine Loy. Even when Catherine is admitted to Chastain in season 1, episode 7, “Lost Love”, Conrad seems to avoid talking about his past relations with Catherine until Nic questions their proximity. Though their relationship ended poorly with Conrad punching Catherine’s father at their rehearsal dinner, it is clear that they hold strong memories together.
5 Conrad Hawkins Was Insecure About Being In A Relationship
Conrad Has Ruined Past Relationships Due To His Emotional Immaturity
The relationship between Conrad and Nic was a winning aspect of the series, but there were some rocky moments early on thanks to his immaturity. Despite being a charismatic and flirtatious jock, Conrad has shown to be pretty insecure about the prospects of a serious relationship. Matt Czuchry, who plays Conrad, even stated that the character was at times “emotionally unavailable” (via TV Insider).
It seemed that Conrad feared that someone couldn’t live with him.
When Catherine Loy resurfaces, it is revealed that the reason Conrad ended his engagement with Catherine was due to him believing that their marriage wouldn’t work. Given his personality and his tendency to butt heads with people, it seemed that Conrad feared that someone couldn’t live with him. It makes it all the more heartbreaking that he managed to overcome these insecurities to be with Nic only to lose her after they built a life together.
4 Conrad Hawkins Can Be Quite The Politician
Dr. Hawkins Knows How To Work The Political Side Of The Job When Necessary
Although he was very ‘anti-establishment’ in the hospital in the earlier seasons, Conrad Hawkins has shown that, when he is forced to play that particular game, he has more skill than many of his adversaries. There is a sense that Hawkins would rather stay far away from the political world of medicine, but pressures within his career have caused this to change. In the third season, when Conrad scrambles to get his job back, he is able to organize his rehiring by tackling hospital politics and leveraging head-on.
Not only does he prove to be quite cunning in his fight to be Chief Medical Resident at Chastain, but he also shows that he is not afraid of the politics of huge financial conglomerates like Red Rock. It is an area of the medical industry that he disdains, but that makes it all the more impressive when he is able to be so effective within it.
3 Conrad Hawkins Is A Good Investigator
Dr. Hawkins Used His Sleuthing To Expose A Corrupt Doctor
Though medical dramas like House MD like to use a bit of detective work in solving strange medical cases, Dr. Hawkins proved on The Resident that it is sometimes other doctors who need to be investigated. One of the most shocking storylines explored in season 1 of The Resident, was Dr. Lane Hunter’s fake cancer treatment facility. Nic and Conrad were the ones made aware of this and worked to expose Dr. Hunters’ lies.
Not only did viewers see Conrad use his charm and charisma in this mission, but also his investigative skills looking into Lane’s background and the legitimacy behind her practice. In the end, thanks to Nic’s perseverance, they were both able to bring Lane Hunter to the authorities and restore justice once more at the hospital, adding amateur detective to his already impressive resume.
2 Conrad Hawkins Has Two Prominent Tattoos
Both Tattoos Link To Dr. Hawkins’ Values
Though there are aspects of his life that Dr. Hawkins likes to keep private and outside of work, the does have some personal tattoos that highlight the things he cares about. Conrad has two prominent tattoos, one of the Staff of Hermes on his left forearm and the other of ‘Death Before Dishonor’ marked on his back which can be seen in the opening credits. It is a rather intense tattoo which link to his time in the marine corps and shows that value that time still holds for him.
The Staff of Hermes or “Caduceus” is often associated with being the universal sign for medicine (via Webster’s Dictionary). Although the meaning of it is highly debated, the tattoo, located on his left forearm, may represent his wholesome dedication to his craft. Both of these tattoo’s show the passion Hawkins has in his life for the values he holds dear.
1 Despite His Arrogance and Casual Lawlessness, Conrad Hawkins Is A Beloved Character Among Fans
Actor Matt Czuchry And Cast Members Have Also Voiced Admiration For Dr. Hawkins
Like many of the best TV characters, Dr. Conrad Hawkins is a complex figure who is flawed in many ways and makes mistakes, but is endearing to audiences for a number of reasons. Matt Czuchry considers Conrad as being “the hero for the little guy”. Czuchry said in a Fox promotional interview that the reason he had taken on the role was that he saw that Conrad ultimately wanted to help people despite his arrogance, wit, and tendency to go off-book.
In the same interview, Manish Dayal and Shaunette Renée Wilson who portrays Dr. Devon Pravesh and Dr. Mina Okafor respectively view Conrad as a kind and good person. They say that Conrad’s ability to always come off as a hero on The Resident shows that he truly cares about people and not the money side of the hospital. After all, Dr. Conrad did say “I don’t capitalize on people’s misfortune”.
