Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion
CHERP Research and Accomplishments
Sonya Borrero, MD, MS talks with MSNBC's Tamron Hall
Female Service Members Face Unique Challenges In Return to Civilian Life
Sonya Borrero, MD, MS was asked by Maria Shriver’s team to write an essay on women in the military for their third Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back From the Brink which focuses on women, power and poverty. The Shriver Report is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary look at how American families live and work today, giving clear insight into one of the most important social trends of our time: the emergence of women into all areas of society. This edition examines the rates of financial insecurity among American women and the children who depend on them, investigates the impact of it on our nation’s institutions and economic future, and promotes modern solutions to help women strengthen their financial status.
Dr. Borrero’s essay, Armed and Vulnerable: Women in the U.S. Military highlights the expanding scope of women's roles in the military and some of the issues they face while in service and with reintegration into civilian life, including higher rates of unemployment and homelessness compared to their male counterparts and female non-veterans.
A CHERP Core Investigator since 2007, Dr. Borrero’s research examines gender and racial disparities in health care, with a focus on reproductive health care. Her VA HSR&D funded study Examining Contraceptive Use and Unmet Need Among Women Veterans assesses unmet needs for contraceptive care among women Veterans associated with race/ethnicity, chronic comorbidity, mental illness, military sexual trauma, and care setting.
Sonya Borrero, MD has been an attending physician at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System since 2005. At the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine she is Associate Professor of Medicine and of Clinical and Translational Science, and also Director, Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Diversity (CEED) Program for Medical Students. Dr. Borrero leads the VA national Women’s Health Research Consortium Disparities Workgroup and is the Site Lead for the VA Women’s Health Practice-Based Research Network for VAPHS.
Click HERE to see Dr. Borrero's discussion with MSNBC's Tamron Hall about the unique challenges that women in the military face when they return home. (Please note the link to this video is not accessible via VA computers.)
