What role did Rachel DiPillo play on Chicago Med? Everything to know about her character

Chicago Med season 11 episode 6 titled The Story of Us, is set to air on November 5, 2025. One of the notable characters that captured the attention of viewers in earlier seasons is Dr. Sarah Reese, a role portrayed by actress Rachel DiPillo.

In early seasons, Dr. Sarah Reese was a medical intern who later became a psychiatry resident on Chicago Med. She struggled and had a complicated relationship with her mentor, Dr. Daniel Charles.

On Chicago Med, Rachel DiPillo played Dr. Sarah Reese, a hesitant intern turned dedicated psychiatry resident. On the show, Sarah faces personal and professional challenges that shape her medical career. She struggles with her mental health and patient care, including diagnosis biases, while dealing with her father, a psychopath and serial killer.

Dr. Sarah Reese: The Psychiatrist who struggles with her past in Chicago Med

Dr. Sarah Reese, played by Rachel DiPillo, struggles personally and professionally. After her father, Robert Haywood, left her when she was six, Sarah was raised by her mother, who made her determined but emotionally complex. In her fourth year of medical school, she joined Chicago Med. After being matched to pathology, Sarah quit her ED clinical rotation. After a coffee shop job, Dr. Daniel Charles invited her back to Chicago Med for a psychiatry residency under his mentorship.

At Chicago Med, Sarah struggled with personal and professional issues. She initially battled diagnosis biases. To diagnose a patient, she looked for schizophrenia symptoms but missed Wilson's disease. Finding out her father was a psychopath and serial killer deepened her personal struggles and shaped her psychiatric approach. After learning of her father's criminal history, Sarah suggested a patient was a psychopath, contradicting Dr. Charles.

Season 1 showed Sarah's patient care issues. She needed Ethan and Connor to help her with CPR and femoral line insertion. Dr. Charles advised her to stay in psychiatry despite her desire to study pathology, which she preferred.

Sarah took Dr. Charles' psychiatry residency offer in Season 2 after briefly working as a barista. Despite feeling incompetent, she became a competent psychiatrist. After Dr. Charles was shot, she testified against Jack Kellog to keep him from being declared legally insane.

Season 3 focused on Sarah's father-daughter relationship. Robert was a psychopath and serial killer, she discovered. Revelations caused great emotional turmoil. Sarah left because of her father's manipulation, including his financial solicitation. After learning of his role in a woman's psychotic break, she exploded at him when she discovered he had molested her. Sarah lost trust in Dr. Charles after her father's heart transplant and health issues because he hesitated to save him because he was a criminal. This moment caused Sarah to leave Chicago Med in Season 4 and move to Baylor for residency.

Sarah practiced holistic psychiatry at the Ananke Center in Chicago after finishing her residency at Baylor. After Ariel Sparkman's apparent overdose in Season 10, she briefly returned to Chicago Med. Sarah and Dr. Charles argued over the treatment, escalating their conflict.

The manipulation, trust issues, and emotional growth of Sarah's relationships with Dr. Charles, Noah Sexton, and her father shaped her character.

About the actress

DiPillo is best known for playing Andie in Jane the Virgin and Dr. Sarah Reese in Chicago Med. Growing up in Nashville, Tennessee, she started her career in television and film.

After playing Andie in The CW comedy-drama Jane the Virgin in 2015, DiPillo gained recognition. She proved her dramatic and comedic acting chops in this role. Michael Chiklis and Cheryl Hines joined DiPillo in NBC's comedy pilot Cuckoo, based on the British sitcom, later that year. Despite the network's rejection, it was a milestone in her career. Dr. Sarah Reese on Chicago Med was DiPillo's biggest role in 2015. 

Chicago Med episodes are available on NBC.