Never went to art school, so I'm not the best adviser, sorry =) But I know most people say no, it's not really (because of different kinds of distortions, filters, etc). Maybe look at the scenery from the window, haha ^^ I personally think it won't hurt though, at least for the beginning and should definitely work fine for perspective!
If you need those, you can find half-naked life models for artists here on Youtube. You can always make some nature mort at home too, just throw in some stuff (like a cup, apples, candle, whatever you have) on a scarf on your table