Browne attended Brockley Central School where he excelled and won many awards highlighting his academic achievements; however, he dropped at age 15 in order earn his living working as clerk at the Deptford Town Hall.
[1] Browne was instructed to continue to maintain the health of the Congolese, who were involved in the mining of many metals, especially Uranium, that were contributing to the Allies' war effort.
[1] Browne accredits his interest in pursuing a medical career to the kindness and attention his mother received from doctors near the end of her life.
His aspirations to become a missionary began at a young age when he heard Henry Holman Bentley, the first white child born in the Congo, speak at a London Sunday School.
[1] Responding to "an urgent need for new recruits", Browne, "made up his mind to offer his services as a doctor to the Baptist Missionary Society".
Upon arrival in Leopoldville, he received further tropical medicine training and met his predecessor, Dr. Clement Chesterman and fellow missionary Dr. Raymond Holmes.
After taking time to adjust to the equatorial climate and further his studies, Browne travelled by air to the mission station in Yakusu.
He frequently handled outbreaks of smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, malaria, yaws and typhoid and made major breakthroughs in the treatment of leprosy and Onchocerciasis.
[2] He made a major epidemiological breakthrough related to Onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness, when he discovered it was caused by a black fly that bred on crabs.
[1] Despite being based in Yakusu, following Chesterman's network of community health centers, Browne embarked on frequent expeditions to surrounding dispensaries and mission stations, traveling by car, motor boat, canoe or on foot.
[1] Browne and his coworkers created a maternity wing and prenatal clinic as part of Yakusu with the goal of reducing high infant mortality rates.
[4] His work at Yalisombo attracted the attention of a prominent leprologist, Dr. Robert Cochrane, who encouraged him focus his studies on leprosy.
[5] During his time at Yakusu, he served as principal of the School of Medical Auxiliaries, developing a model rural health service.