English doctor Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (the second woman in the world to gain registration to practice as a doctor, after Elizabeth Blackwell) was visiting Australia on a lecture tour in 1888, and Berne met her during her visit. Berne told her of her difficulties studying medicine in Australia, and Garrett Anderson recounted her own experience while studying, which was very similar to Berne's: she had not been allowed to finish her studies in England and had finished her education at the University of Paris instead. Inspired by Garrett Anderson's similar experience, Berne and her mother approached the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Sir Henry McLaurin, for help in qualifying for her degree, but he refused, asserting that no woman would graduate in medicine while he was Vice-Chancellor.