During Berne's final year of study, the economic downturn in Australia of the early 1890s caused the family to lose all of their savings, including the inheritances of Berne and Florence, and the sisters' other siblings had been forced to work to support the family, their brother Frederick having to quit school. The sisters could no longer afford to support themselves while studying, and so Florence, without informing Berne, took a job as a governess based on her teaching experience. Although Berne protested this sacrifice, she ultimately completed her education, graduating in 1893. She obtained the Triple Qualification, the Scottish variant of the Conjoint qualification, comprising a joint diploma from the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.