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Residents in training are first-line physicians in hospital settings and they are in the process of developing knowledge and mastering clinical skills. They have to confront complex tasks calling upon their personal background, professional identity and relationships with the patients. We conducted a qualitative study investigating the difficulties they perceive in end-of-life care. In all, 24 consecutive residents were presented with a written query asking them to indicate the difficulties they identify in the management of patients hospitalised for end-of-life care. Their responses were submitted to content analysis. Physicians’ mean age was 28 ± 2.2 years, 37% were women, average postgraduate training duration was 2.5 ± 1.3 years. Content analysis elicited eight categories of difficulties: abitily to provide adequate explanations, understand the patients’ needs, have sufficient theoretical knowledge, avoid flight, avoid false …