Meet the Director and Team — General Surgery Residency at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital
Welcome from the Program Director
Thank you for your interest the Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital/NEOMED General Surgery Residency Program. Our program prides itself in training excellent surgeons who graduate ready to begin independent surgical practice or enter highly competitive fellowship programs.
The educational experience at St. E’s is exceptional. The case volume and variety are tremendous for a community our size. Our residents finish with outstanding technical skills and sound clinical judgement. The clinical rotations are well-organized and include both inpatient and outpatient care. Our curriculum is highly structured, and didactic time is strictly protected from patient care responsibilities. Conferences are prepared and presented by a mix of both faculty and residents. Our website provides more detail about the curriculum and rotations.
Our program requires resident research. Each resident must complete at least one project of publishable quality prior to graduation. Most projects are presented at regional or national meetings. Several manuscripts have been accepted for publication as well. We have dedicated research coordinators who are experienced in all aspects of performing surgical research. However, there is no required research time.
Our faculty members are a diverse group of experienced surgical educators and genuinely enjoy teaching. Many are fellowship trained, while several are alumni of our program. Faculty members are directly engaged in patient care and offer outstanding resident support and mentorship. They appreciate the balance between progressive resident autonomy and appropriate supervision. Each residency class has an assigned faculty counselor who meets with them on a regular basis to discuss clinical and academic performance, work-life balance, scholarly activity and career goals.
We are serious and deliberate about resident and faculty well-being. We enjoy wonderful, genuine camaraderie amongst both faculty and residents. When times are tough, our institution provides confidential support services to any resident who needs help – mental health, family struggles, legal assistance, financial difficulties, etc. Best of all, amidst the chaos and stress of surgical residency, we ensure that we have fun too! We regularly schedule special social events throughout the academic year. Some of our favorites have been our formal resident graduation ceremony, bowling party, holiday parties, white water rafting, after in-training exam axe throwing, and new resident summer picnics.
Finally, we encourage you to seriously consider applying to St. E’s for your surgical residency. We welcome any questions you may have about our program.
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Dr. Heath A. Dorion, MD, FACS | Program DirectorMedical School: Northeast Ohio Medical UniversityResidency: St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital Fellowship: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Dr. Dorion began his duties in January 2019 after being selected as the fifth program director for the general surgery residency. He is a clinical professor of surgery at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Upon completion of residency, he served as an active duty staff surgeon in the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Medical Center, in Dayton, Ohio. He returned to Youngstown in 2006 as a core faculty member for the residency program. He is board certified by the American Board of Surgery with added qualifications in surgical critical care. He has served in numerous leadership roles including M3 clerkship director, general surgery section director, Mercy Health Physicians Youngstown board member and chief medical officer at St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital. He is an active member of the American College of Surgeons, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma, American Hernia Society, Association of Program Directors in Surgery and the Association for Surgical Education. |
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Dr. Nancy Gantt, MD, FACS | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: University of Chicago Pritzker School of MedicineResidency: Hospitals of the University Health Center of Pittsburgh Dr. Gantt is professor of surgery at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and the co-medical director of the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center. Professionally she focuses on the interdisciplinary care of breast disease and surgical education. At Mercy St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, she serves as associate director of resident education and as the ACS COC Cancer liaison physician. Dr. Gantt served as M3 surgical clerkship director at St. Elizabeth Health Center for 20 years and as NEOMED M3 curriculum director for 12 years. As chair of the Association for Surgical Education’s Clerkship Directors’ committee she developed the ASE Academy of Clerkship Directors to recognize the significant contributions of clerkship directors to medical student education. She is past president of the Association of Women Surgeons and the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. |
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Dr. Vincent W. Vanek, MD, FACS | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: Indiana University School of MedicineResidency: St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital Fellowship: American College of Surgeons, American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) Dr. Vanek is a diplomate of the American Board of Surgery and Professor of Surgery at NEOMED. He participates in the clinical teaching of residents and medical students and is counselor for the assigned general surgical residents. Along with his many duties in the program, Dr. Vanek is also chair of the Mercy Health CarePATH Clinical Nutrition Committee (CNC) and the Mercy Health Youngstown regional CNC. He is member and past president of the ASPEN as well as for the Ohio state chapter of ASPEN. |
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Dr. Tiffany Marchand, MD, FACS | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: Saint Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of MedicineResidency: St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital Fellowship: Surgical Critical Care, University Nevada Las Vegas Dr. Marchand was born in Canton and The Ohio State University earning a degree in biochemistry and molecular genetics. While there, she was on the crew (rowing) and water polo teams. After graduation, she moved to Belize for two years to attend medical school. After training, she traveled around taking jobs in Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio. In the midst of that, she spent time in London, England earning her master's degree in trauma sciences learning about trauma care in the austere environment and even had the privilege of operating at the Royal College of Surgeons. Five years after leaving Youngstown, being close to family brought her back to the area. She now takes care of a wide breadth of patients from the sick and critically injured to breast cancer patients. She has an interest in surgical education as the Associate Program Director of the General Surgery Residency Program and clerkship director for NEOMED and LECOM medical students. Dr. Marchand splits her time between Lake Milton and Berlin Center on her 60-acre tree farm with her partner, Eric, and their two dogs, Diesel and Dozer. |
Core Faculty
Our faculty and staff are outstanding mentors and educators. All faculty leaders are actively practicing, hands-on clinicians who work alongside the residents. Bedside clinical teaching coupled with clinical and educational expertise make our faculty some of the best. Several of our faculty are administrative leaders within our hospital system which further bolsters their educational strengths.
Benjamin Biteman, MD, FACS, FASMBS
Thomas Chirichella, MD, FACS
Meelie DebRoy, MD, FACS
Jason Delatore, MD, FACS
Brian Gruber, MD, FACS
Gregory Huang, MD, FACS
Joseph Iocono, MD, MBA, FACS, FAAP
Derek Ornelas, MD
Ronald Rhodes, MD, FACS
Lillianne Stanitsas, MD, FACS
Contact Us
Program Coordinator: Larissa McElrath
Email address: lmcelrath1@mercy.com
Phone: 330-480-3124