Dr. Eliza Slater is a family doctor. She chose a career in medicine, and specifically in family medicine, because she wants to engage in justice-oriented work in health care. She strives to place health and disease within the context of how societal issues and oppression affect individuals and groups of people. Dr. Slater worked in an Alaska Native clinic during medical school and was involved in anti-racism and anti-oppression work. She aims to continue this work through her residency and in her future practice.

Dr. Slater has special interests in rural medicine, gender care, maternal and child health and reproductive justice. She also has special interests in community-based medicine, trauma-informed care and social determinants of health.

Dr. Slater was born into a circus community in San Francisco to a mother who was a juggler-clown-educator-activist and a father who was a live-off-the-land carpenter. When she was two years old, her family moved to Northeast Portland. She spent her childhood philosophizing about morality and justice and engaging in pre-professional dance training. After studying Mandarin in college, she spent time on the Tibetan Plateau in Central and East Asia. She partnered with community members to explore what health care could look like within a nomadic society.