From 1903, Bourne was resident medical officer at the Women’s Hospital,
Sydney, the first woman resident at
Brisbane General Hospital, and she worked at the Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane before entering general practice in 1907. Appointed the first Medical Inspector of Schools in the
Department of Public Instruction in 1911, she travelled extensively through regional Queensland establishing principles and implementing practices for the medical examination of children. Disagreements with the Department and a heavy workload fuelled Bourne’s desire for a change. Undeterred that the
Australian Army did not admit female doctors, and determined to support
the Allies, she embarked for England in early 1916 at her own expense, and enlisted in the
Royal Army Medical Corps in
London in May 1916. As a
lieutenant she served in the
Endell Street Military Hospital,
London, founded by Dr
Flora Murray and Dr
Louisa Garrett Anderson, and staffed entirely by women. Promoted to
major in 1917, Bourne was attached to
Queen Mary’s Army Auxiliary Corps and appointed Medical Controller, Northern Command until the end of the War. Bourne obtained a Diploma of Public Health in 1920, and continued her career in Britain, appointed assistant medical officer to the city of
Carlisle, responsible for child and maternal welfare services and the new maternity hospital. She returned to Queensland upon retirement in 1937. == Personal life and death ==