On Saturday, July 1, Mercy Health – Youngstown’s Graduate Medical Education (GME) Program will welcome 50 incoming residents across 10 residency programs and 2 fellowship programs. This new class includes residents in the specialties of internal medicine, family medicine, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, general dentistry, emergency medicine, otolaryngology, transitional year and pharmacy.
Mercy Health is also introducing a new rural pathway to its GME program as part of the ministry’s commitment to growing rural health care access. This pathway will give family medicine residents interested in rural health care the opportunity to train in a rural setting and address the unique health disparities facing patients in these communities. It will operate out of Mercy Health – Columbiana Primary Care under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Macabobby and Dr. Alex Heintzelman.
“Mercy Health – Youngstown is committed to providing access to high-quality, compassionate health care and training the next generation of physicians to do the same,” said Dr. Jim Kravec, Chief Clinical Officer for Mercy Health - Youngstown. “Mercy Health is focused on building a GME program that is on the forefront of medical education and ensures the people of the Mahoning Valley have access to high-quality health care, which starts with educating residents we hope will stay in the Valley. We are excited to welcome these new physicians to the Youngstown community and grow the number of doctors we have to treat our patients. We are also excited to welcome Mercy Health graduate medical education to Columbiana County to further extend our mission and grow our existing presence in that county.”
These residents were paired with the various Mercy Health – Youngstown programs in March on Match Day, which is well known in the graduate medical education community as the day when graduating medical students get placed into residency and fellowship programs. It is also the day Mercy Health – Youngstown learned who will become our next class of physician residents.
Mercy Health – Youngstown has had a surgical residency program in place for more than 100 years and an internal medicine residency for nearly as long
“Mercy Health – Youngstown is proud to train nearly 150 physicians in our residency and fellowship programs. These physicians care for our community both now and, for some, the remainder of their medical careers,” said Dr. Ron Rhodes, Chief Academic Officer for Mercy Health – Youngstown. “As we train these residents, we continually look to the future to add training opportunities that will ultimately grow access to care for our patients.”
The new rural pathway is the latest example of Mercy Health’s forward-looking approach to growing its GME program and training opportunities. Understanding that patients in our rural communities face different challenges when it comes to access to care than those in urban settings, Mercy Health developed this pathway to train family medicine residents under the leadership of experienced rural family medicine physicians.
“Not only will this rural pathway be integral in building a bench of family medicine physicians ready to provide care in our rural communities, but it will also be helpful in meeting the needs identified in the Columbiana Community Health Needs Assessment,” said Dr. Macabobby. “Chronic disease management, mental health care, obesity and nutrition, and substance use disorder are all priorities identified in the assessment. Adding this pathway will grow the number of physicians in our rural communities focused on addressing these priorities.”
“As a Columbiana County native, rural health care was always my calling and I’m excited to train the next generation in my hometown,” said Dr. Heintzelman. “Research in rural medicine training shows us that doctors who are trained in rural settings are more likely to stay, and we know access to care close to home can significantly impact health outcomes for patients. There’s no question that in order to grow access to care, we need doctors first. This pathway is a valuable addition to our GME program and will benefit our rural communities immensely.”
The introduction of the rural pathway comes on the heels of additional efforts by Mercy Health to expand rural health care access. Earlier this month, Mercy Health announced the opening of a new walk-in care location at Mercy Health – East Palestine Primary Care and the launch of virtual specialty care sites at Mercy Health – East Palestine Primary Care and Mercy Health – Sebring Primary Care, where patients can have virtual appointments with their specialty care providers from the convenience and comfort of their primary care practices.
Mercy Health is also introducing a new rural pathway to its GME program as part of the ministry’s commitment to growing rural health care access. This pathway will give family medicine residents interested in rural health care the opportunity to train in a rural setting and address the unique health disparities facing patients in these communities. It will operate out of Mercy Health – Columbiana Primary Care under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Macabobby and Dr. Alex Heintzelman.
“Mercy Health – Youngstown is committed to providing access to high-quality, compassionate health care and training the next generation of physicians to do the same,” said Dr. Jim Kravec, Chief Clinical Officer for Mercy Health - Youngstown. “Mercy Health is focused on building a GME program that is on the forefront of medical education and ensures the people of the Mahoning Valley have access to high-quality health care, which starts with educating residents we hope will stay in the Valley. We are excited to welcome these new physicians to the Youngstown community and grow the number of doctors we have to treat our patients. We are also excited to welcome Mercy Health graduate medical education to Columbiana County to further extend our mission and grow our existing presence in that county.”
These residents were paired with the various Mercy Health – Youngstown programs in March on Match Day, which is well known in the graduate medical education community as the day when graduating medical students get placed into residency and fellowship programs. It is also the day Mercy Health – Youngstown learned who will become our next class of physician residents.
Mercy Health – Youngstown has had a surgical residency program in place for more than 100 years and an internal medicine residency for nearly as long
“Mercy Health – Youngstown is proud to train nearly 150 physicians in our residency and fellowship programs. These physicians care for our community both now and, for some, the remainder of their medical careers,” said Dr. Ron Rhodes, Chief Academic Officer for Mercy Health – Youngstown. “As we train these residents, we continually look to the future to add training opportunities that will ultimately grow access to care for our patients.”
The new rural pathway is the latest example of Mercy Health’s forward-looking approach to growing its GME program and training opportunities. Understanding that patients in our rural communities face different challenges when it comes to access to care than those in urban settings, Mercy Health developed this pathway to train family medicine residents under the leadership of experienced rural family medicine physicians.
“Not only will this rural pathway be integral in building a bench of family medicine physicians ready to provide care in our rural communities, but it will also be helpful in meeting the needs identified in the Columbiana Community Health Needs Assessment,” said Dr. Macabobby. “Chronic disease management, mental health care, obesity and nutrition, and substance use disorder are all priorities identified in the assessment. Adding this pathway will grow the number of physicians in our rural communities focused on addressing these priorities.”
“As a Columbiana County native, rural health care was always my calling and I’m excited to train the next generation in my hometown,” said Dr. Heintzelman. “Research in rural medicine training shows us that doctors who are trained in rural settings are more likely to stay, and we know access to care close to home can significantly impact health outcomes for patients. There’s no question that in order to grow access to care, we need doctors first. This pathway is a valuable addition to our GME program and will benefit our rural communities immensely.”
The introduction of the rural pathway comes on the heels of additional efforts by Mercy Health to expand rural health care access. Earlier this month, Mercy Health announced the opening of a new walk-in care location at Mercy Health – East Palestine Primary Care and the launch of virtual specialty care sites at Mercy Health – East Palestine Primary Care and Mercy Health – Sebring Primary Care, where patients can have virtual appointments with their specialty care providers from the convenience and comfort of their primary care practices.