Studying Medicine for a Kohen
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Question
A student who is a Kohen asked me if he can study medicine. Is there a problem with this since he will eventually have to work in a hospital and become impure by coming into contact with the dead?
Answer
Shalom Rav
A Kohen is forbidden to study medicine if he knows that this will require him to become impure by coming into contact with the dead.
Source
Igrot Moshe, Yoreh De'ah, Part 3, Siman 155.
See there where it is written sharply against those who permit, stating that they have neither Torah nor wisdom, and they are among those who are arrogant in decision-making, a fool, a wicked person, and an insolent one (Mishnah Avot, Chapter 4, Mishnah 7).