Raquel A. Buranosky, MD, MPH

Dr. Raquel Buranosky is the Medical Director for the Pittsburgh Underserved Women’s Center Clinic, the Assistant Dean for Clinical Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and a practicing Doctor of General Internal Medicine at UPMC Presbyterian. She came to Pittsburgh in 1994 after finishing medical school in North Carolina, where she had worked as a domestic violence counselor and trained hundreds of medical students to volunteer in the ER at Duke University to help those experiencing domestic violence.  Once in Pittsburgh, Dr. Raquel began working with the Mercy Hospital domestic violence group and started a medical school advocacy program at Pitt. In 1996, she helped start a medical clinic at Women’s Center & Shelter (WC&S), along with a group of volunteers and Mary Herbert, who continues to serve as the Clinical Director at The Program for Health Care to Underserved Populations (PHCUP), which oversees the Pittsburgh Underserved Women’s Center Clinic.  

Dr. Raquel and the PHCUP team undertook a series of needs assessments to determine the direction for the clinic. They found that about half of the clients staying in WC&S’ Emergency Shelter were uninsured and that, regardless of their insurance status, their many varied health needs were not being met in traditional health care settings. The clinic was established to meet these clients’ short-term needs and to connect them with resources and primary care physicians who can provide trauma-informed care on an on-going basis. Today, under Dr. Raquel’s guidance and with Mary’s support as Clinical Director, the clinic is entirely run by volunteer medical students who schedule appointments, handle inventory, and provide care for patients. The clinic also offers a pharmacy and hosts support groups for smoking cessation. Volunteering with the clinic has become so popular that there is now a long waiting list of medical students hoping to take part. 

Dr. Raquel says that one of the greatest joys of doing this work at WC&S is watching the students have that “aha” moment of what it means to be a doctor: meeting patients where they are and making real connections with them. She says the students learn what it means to provide trauma-informed medical care and become ambassadors to other physicians and students on how to thoughtfully work with survivors of domestic violence by taking the time to learn about their experiences. Dr. Raquel says, “Working at the shelter,  we all come with such a deep respect and an amazing sense of inspiration from these women, realizing that when you're in their world, they don't want or need you to save them, and they don't want or need you to tell them what to do. But they do need you to guide them, because they're busy surviving and they just need some time, some resources, and a minute to think and to focus.” 

“There's an empowerment that she provides,” Mary says. “A lot of times in medicine, between a physician and a patient or a client or a student, there can be that awkward power differential, and that doesn't exist with Raquel.”  

Adrianne, On-Site Services Program Manager for WC&S, says, “I can't imagine our shelter services without the clinic. It's been in place for so long and it's such a critical and important part of our shelter services. Twenty plus years ago, Dr. Raquel recognized the need for domestic violence survivors to have quality, compassionate medical care. And she brought that care right to right to our shelter.”  

“The students are really excited to be in the clinic and in the shelter and experience what it's like working with trauma survivors. They learn what it means to be a human that has experienced trauma. They really get to work on those skills and build on the knowledge of how to treat a trauma survivor, how to interact, how to become more comfortable in asking specific questions and also understanding that there are a lot of complexities with trauma survivors, whether it's something with addiction or maybe some physical elements that have been neglected,” says Teekay, Shelter Program Supervisor. 

Dr. Raquel and her team have been bringing trauma-informed medical care to shelter residents for 25 years. Her ability to connect with people and lead the next generation of doctors will no doubt leave a lasting impact on those she serves and in the medical community for years to come.

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