Objective To understand the cognition and practical ability in palliative care among master′s degree candidates in a teaching hospital in Beijing and to analyze the influencing factors. Methods A self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate 779 postgraduate students who had taken the compulsory course of palliative medicine from 2019 to 2021. SPSS 22.0 was used for data analysis and t-test for comparison between groups. Results Pre-class students scored 2 to 3 points out of 5 for all the cognitive indexes of palliative care and practice ability. The lower scores were (1.98±1.35) points for “Relieving the pain of dyspnea after withdrawing ventilator” and (1.88±1.34) points for “Discussing freely organ donation with family members”, and the scores were higher for “Expressing empathy to the dying patients and their family members” (3.00±1.38) points, “Discussing freely intention for resuscitation with their family members” (3.05±1.41) points, “Being able to choose appropriate enteral and parenteral nutrition support for the dying patients” (3.06±1.40) points, and “Senior colleagues setting an example for caring for the dying patients” (3.41±1.55) points. Students who "have received education in palliative care", "have gone through the patients′ death as doctors", and "have had experience of hospitalization because of severe illness, or of being bereft of relatives and friends, or of visiting dying relatives and friends" have significantly enhanced cognition about palliative care and practical ability (P<0.05). Conclusion Students have poor cognition and weak practice ability in palliative care, which shows the necessity and importance of the courses in palliative care. Targeted education is recommended in the weakness of knowledge for the students.