Jerry Browne attended the University of Northern Iowa, majoring in biology and chemistry. He graduated with a B.S. Degree from the University of Iowa School of Pharmacy in 1979. In 1982, Jerry received his Masters degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology. He also received a Minor in Internal Medicine from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He obtained his M.D. from there in 1992. He worked as an Internist in Critical Care with the Northeast Iowa Internal Medicine Association, located in Allen Hospital, Waterloo, Iowa.