The ruling on exposing the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) to female students in a medical college

Question : Also, there is a question related to this field. It says: We are female students in the Faculty of Human Medicine. These students ask: They say that they enter the rooms of male patients, and they ask whether it is permissible to examine the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) area? They also ask if there is an exposed case, or if there is no patient in that place, and they ask further, saying that the medical condition does not touch her, meaning if she refrains from touching it, but she only looks at it so that she does not miss the opportunity to learn?

Answer : There is no doubt that exposing the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) is forbidden (haram) except for the husband or the wife to her husband, but with the condition that there is no seclusion (khalwah), meaning a man being alone with a woman, and that there is no desire, and that one is safe from the arousal of desire. If these conditions are met, there is no harm in examining the 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) and treating it, because it may not be possible to find a female for a female or a male for a male. However, those responsible in this field must strive with utmost effort to ensure that women's diseases are handled by women and men's diseases by men.