Payton

Cabrera

St. Peter

MD

Hometown: Portland, Ore., or Plano, Texas, depending on who you ask! I was born in and spent the first five years of my life in Portland. It’s where most of my family is now and where I get my grandma’s cooking, so it will always feel like home. But I did most of my growing up in Plano.

Undergraduate: Boston University

Medical School: McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston

Why did you choose VUMC Emergency Medicine: I knew that I wanted to train at a residency program that would push me to be the best version of myself; not just clinically, but as a leader and member of my community. During my interview and second look I was struck by the fact that maintaining your humanity was the expectation here, not the exception. Everyone was so wonderful and welcoming, and I left knowing that VUMC would be a place I would grow, thrive, and truly feel at home. This, paired with the incredible mentorship and resources to support my academic goals, made choosing Vanderbilt a no brainer!

Interests in emergency medicine: Social EM, addiction medicine, ultrasound, geriatrics, research/QI

Five-year plan: In five years I hope to be working in academic emergency medicine and balancing my time between clinical work, research, and contributing to/one day running bidirectional community programs to help best utilize the emergency department not just as a place of stabilization but as a bridge to longer term social support.

If not EM, what? A science teacher! My life has been shaped by a lot of really influential teachers, each of whom laid their own stepping stone on my path to medicine, so I would like to think that I would find myself among them.

Hobbies: Tending to my ever-growing indoor garden, traveling, trivia, trying fun new food and cocktail bars with my husband, William.

Random fact about me: I’m one of seven kids (and I’m #1!)