He first studied Mathematics in the University of Coimbra, switching to Medicine after obtaining the first degree. He interrupted his studies in 1828, with the start of the Portuguese Civil War; he joined the Academic Battalion but soon after, judging, like many did, the Liberal cause lost when King Miguel I seized the throne, he departed to Paris, where he completed his medical studies in 1831. At the invitation of the Marquis of Palmela, who was part of the Liberal government-in-opposition, Bernardino António Gomes rejoined the Liberal forces in Terceira Island in the Azores: he would later take part in the Landing at Mindelo, the turning point of the Civil War, and was in the besieged resistance at the Siege of Porto (during which he provided medical assistance due to a cholera outbreak). As the Constitutional Monarchy was finally established, he filled the positions of Director of the , Chairman of the Council for Naval Health, physician of Saint Joseph's Hospital, and Professor at the Lisbon Medical-Surgical School (Chair of "Materia Medica" from 1837 to 1857).