As a research associate intern at UPMC Presbyterian and Mercy for over two years, I have had the opportunity to communicate with patients and clinical staff while screening and consenting patients in the emergency departments (EDs) and intensive care units (ICUs) for different studies. This opportunity has taught me extensively about the teamwork inherent to medicine, with multiple specialists working together to treat patients, exemplified by the treatment of trauma patients in teams. It was interesting to see the involvement of social workers in critically ill patients’ cases as well in consideration the often-complicated family/social contexts of patients’ lives. Some patients’ individual cases have also exposed me to the consequences of health care inaccessibility in the U.S., with individuals without insurance coming to EDs since they legally cannot be denied care there, and some critically ill patients leaving against medical advice in fear of health care costs. Challenges in obtaining study consent for critically ill patients also contributed to my understanding of greater moral/ethical questions of patient autonomy.