Death education for medical students is crucial, and the history of medicine enables students to look back at human lives over a long period of time and deepen their understanding of diseases, aging and death. By discussing the subject matter of death in the history of medicine course for postgraduates of Peking Union Medical College, it is suggested that the history of medicine can deepen students' understanding of the culture of death in different time and space, enhance their empathy for the relatives of the deceased, and also stimulate them to think about the ethics of medical research.