Objective:To explore the status quo and latent profiles of medical students' sense of meaning in life and the relationships of these profiles with attitudes toward death.Methods:From March to June 2023, 390 medical students from Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin Medical College, and Tangshan Polytechnic University were selected as the subjects. The research tools included the General Information Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The latent profiles of the sense of meaning in life among medical students were analyzed using Mplus 8.3 software. SPSS 26.0 software was used to analyze the general data and the relationships between different latent profiles and attitudes toward death.Results:Medical students generally demonstrated a moderately high level of meaning in life, which could be divided into two latent profiles: the negative-uncertain type (28.46%) and the positive-oriented type (71.54%). Logistic regression analysis showed that perceptions of the importance of life education, the most appropriate timing for its implementation, and familiarity with concepts such as hospice care, palliative care and end of life care were identified as factors influencing the latent profiles of meaning in life among medical students. Students in the positive-oriented profile were more likely to exhibit a natural acceptance attitude toward death.Conclusion:There is heterogeneity in medical students' sense of meaning in life. Educators can set up appropriate life education curricula at various stages of student development to support their growth into competent healthcare professionals.

Objective:To explore the status quo and latent profiles of medical students' sense of meaning in life and the relationships of these profiles with attitudes toward death.Methods:From March to June 2023, 390 medical students from Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin Medical College, and Tangshan Polytechnic University were selected as the subjects. The research tools included the General Information Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire, and the Chinese version of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The latent profiles of the sense of meaning in life among medical students were analyzed using Mplus 8.3 software. SPSS 26.0 software was used to analyze the general data and the relationships between different latent profiles and attitudes toward death.Results:Medical students generally demonstrated a moderately high level of meaning in life, which could be divided into two latent profiles: the negative-uncertain type (28.46%) and the positive-oriented type (71.54%). Logistic regression analysis showed that perceptions of the importance of life education, the most appropriate timing for its implementation, and familiarity with concepts such as hospice care, palliative care and end of life care were identified as factors influencing the latent profiles of meaning in life among medical students. Students in the positive-oriented profile were more likely to exhibit a natural acceptance attitude toward death.Conclusion:There is heterogeneity in medical students' sense of meaning in life. Educators can set up appropriate life education curricula at various stages of student development to support their growth into competent healthcare professionals.