Starting from the end: The cemetery as a learning venue

Medical students encounter patient deaths throughout their training and tend to cope with death under the pretence of curing to fight off the imminence of death, rarely pondering the true meaning of mortality. This assumed numbness often makes them harsh, insecure, and somehow oblivious to the human plight of patients and their families. The Covid-19 pandemic has made the need for reflection on mortality even more significant. This commentary discusses a cemetery visit as part of the clinical ethics training of medical students. On this "existential trip", students address their perceptions, fears, and beliefs about death and dying, opening their eyes to the reality of the profession of medicine. This form of experiential learning aims to awaken students to the inevitable fate they share with their patients, dispelling the illusion of being infallible physicians, thus helping shape empathetic future physicians sensitised to the unuttered distress of dying patients and their caregivers.