Cohen graduated summa cum laude[3] from Brandeis University in 1961, with a BA in philosophy and psychology,[2] and studied philosophy at Cambridge University on a Fulbright fellowship.[1] He obtained his MD in 1966 from Yale School of Medicine, and completed his general and child psychiatry residency at Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Children's Hospital, in Boston and Washington, DC.[1][3] According to The New York Times, Cohen said that "as a student he honed his fund-raising skills working as a copy writer for a mail order catalog, extolling the virtues of women's hats and other merchandise".[1] He was described as "an avid scholar who loved French poetry and German philosophy, as well as science and medicine".[3]