Meet the Director and Team — Transitional Year at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital
Welcome from the Program Director
I would like to thank you for visiting the home page for the Transitional Year Residency Program at Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown. Our hospital is part of the Bon Secours Mercy Health System, which is the fifth-largest Catholic health ministry in the United States and one of the 20th largest health systems in the country.
This program has Continued Accreditation by the ACGME. Established in 2004, the program, with four PGY 1 positions, is co-sponsored by the Internal Medicine and General Surgery Residency Programs, both of which are long-standing, ACGME accredited programs within the institution.
The purpose of the Transitional Year (PGY-1) is to provide a well-balanced graduate medical educational program, both clinical and didactic, so that you have a strong clinical background to continue your training.
Our graduates have gone on to complete residencies in radiology, anesthesiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, dermatology, emergency medicine, neurology, internal medicine, ophthalmology and family medicine. Some of our residents have returned to Youngstown after completing their training in order to continue their medical careers here.
We are very proud of the accomplishments of our residents, both during their training and later in their careers.
Please take some time to browse our website.
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Dr. Gregory Huang, MD, FACS | Program DirectorMedical School: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Dr. Huang joined St. Elizabeth Youngstown in 2011 and took over as program director in 2016. He is board certified in both general surgery and surgical critical care. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of Critical Care Medicine and Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Dr. Huang’s academic interests including teaching and outcomes-based research. He has authored and co-authored many peer reviewed publications. He resides in the Youngstown area with his wife, Natalie Lariccia, and their two cats. His hobbies and interests include fitness, running, cooking and traveling. |
Dr. David Regule, MD | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: Northeast Ohio Medical University, 2003 Dr. Regule has been involved with medical education as full time internal medicine faculty at St. Elizabeth Youngstown since 2008 and became associate program director in 2019. His roles include mentoring, precepting in clinic and inpatient rounds, teaching in large group formal and informal didactics, medical school lectures and state and regional conferences. His background includes black belt in karate and undergraduate work at Kent State University and Ohio State University in physical therapy. He worked for five years as an orthopedic and manual therapy focused physical therapist, including a master’s degree and teaching assistant in musculoskeletal physical therapy at University of Pittsburgh. He also taught anatomy and physiology for 10 years at an associate degree level through Tri-State College of Massotherapy. |
Dr. Michael Kentris, DO | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Dr. Kentris joined St. Elizabeth Youngstown in 2021 where he is active in neurology education for both residents and medical students. He is board certified in neurology and epilepsy. He is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and is a member of the editorial board for the journal Continuum, the AAN's CME publication. He lives in the Youngstown area with his wife. His hobbies include music and reading. |
Dr. Ben Belcik, DO, FAAPM&R | Associate Program DirectorMedical School: Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine Dr. Ben Belcik is board certified in both Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) and Brain Injury Medicine. He initially joined St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital from 2019 to 2021, then served as PM&R faculty at University Hospitals of Cleveland before returning to St. Elizabeth in 2023. He currently serves as the Medical Director of Mercy Health Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. Belcik is a member of the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. His professional interests include teaching, general inpatient rehabilitation, and stroke rehabilitation. He resides in the Youngstown area with his wife, Christina, and their two sons. Outside of medicine, he enjoys spending time with family, gardening, traveling, and fitness. |
Core Faculty
Internal Medicine
Patrick Brine, MD
David Regule, MD
Charles Wilkins, MD
Timothy Barreiro, DO
Gregory Polcha, DO
Stephen Pupillo, DO
Heath Dorion, MD
Tiffany Marchand, MD
Brian Gruber, MD
Gregory Huang, MD
Sean Reimer, MD
Lilly Stanitsas, MD
Vince Vanek, MD
Contact Us
Hannah Childs, Academic Specialist/Coordinator
Phone: 330-480-2994
Email: hchilds@mercy.com