鈥淲hat is the patient鈥檚 code status?鈥�
After completion of my medical education in Ireland and with reluctancy to leave my new home, I remained for an additional 5 years of postgraduate clinical training prior to initiating residency in the United States. Adjusting to a new medical system was not as straightforward as I had anticipated. My residency experience started overnight on the hospital internal medicine service at a large academic medical center, and I quickly began to realize some key differences in respective approaches to patient care. After stumbling through my first admission, the electronic health record prompted me to document the patient鈥檚 code status. A stable patient with few comorbidities whom I did not expect to decompensate.