Annual Publication 2025 FINAL 05292025 accessible - Flipbook - Page 30
PHYSICIAN LURED TO SCHOOL
BY CULTURE OF SUPPORT
BY PAUL JONCICH
A
s a medical student at Touro University
Nevada, Denice Ichinoe, DO, did an “away”
rotation with the Kirk Kerkorian School of
Medicine at UNLV’s family medicine residency
program and immediately knew this was where
she belonged. “I saw 昀椀rst-hand the culture of
support and camaraderie between the residents and the faculty,”
Dr. Ichinoe recalls.
The kicker was when the program passed her own personal
litmus test. “I wanted to see if I was stuck at 3 a.m. with the
other residents in a very di昀케cult medical situation with patients.
I wanted to know that somebody would be there to support me,
but also, that I could get along with them very well. I could tell very
early that these are my people.”
Heavily engaged as a volunteer leader during her time at Touro, Dr.
Ichinoe worked with groups like Opportunity Village helping people
with intellectual disabilities, and The Shade Tree, an organization
that provides shelter and resources for women in crisis. She found
the same commitment to serve in the Kirk Kerkorian School of
Medicine’s family medicine residency program. “It was clear the
program was very committed to teaching the residents, but also
serving the underserved population.”
After completing residency in Las Vegas, Dr. Ichinoe, a proud
Filipino and a strong believer in the value of diversity, accepted
a sports medicine fellowship at Oregon Health and Science
University in Portland with the idea of returning to Las Vegas
after training. “I wanted to train in a different environment and
be exposed to new perspectives, not just in sports medicine,
but medicine in general. I have this strong belief that medicine
bene昀椀ts from diversity, in the people and the ideas. I knew that by
stepping outside my comfort zone I would grow as a physician
and bring new insights back to Las Vegas.”
Since coming on board January 1 as assistant professor in the
department of family and community medicine, Dr. Ichinoe has
been putting much of what she learned to good use. Her typical
week takes her all over the Las Vegas Valley, treating a wide
range of patients. “On Monday, I’ll be at the sports medicine clinic
seeing people for sports med or neuro-musculoskeletal issues
… and then it’s a mixture of seeing the athletes on the UNLV
campus, working with the athletic trainers and working with the
other doctors there. And then, interspersed between all of this, I’m
30 KIRK KERKORIAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT UNLV
at several different locations. I can be in the family medicine clinic
on Tenaya, and I also see patients at our Mojave Counseling Adult
Psychiatry & Mental Health Primary Care on East Charleston. It’s
a unique population that often faces signi昀椀cant challenges, and
I’m grateful for the opportunity to support them any way I can as
their primary care doctor.”
Her training in sports medicine is the cherry on top, equipping her
with the necessary knowledge and skills to treat elite, and not-soelite athletes, as well as handling a wider variety of challenging
cases in clinic. “A lot of the things we deal with in primary care …
treating the aches and pains that weekend warriors come in for,
are conditions I’m perfectly suited to treat as a sports medicine
physician. Additionally, as people want to stay active later in life, I
can help them as they age.”
She now 昀椀nds herself a long way from working in the relative
solitude of a research lab, which is where she went to work after
getting a degree in biochemistry from the University of California,
San Diego. “I did that for four to 昀椀ve years, but over time I realized
I wanted a connection to the people who bene昀椀t from the
science.” So Dr. Ichinoe redirected, going back to college to take
the necessary classes for medical school and waiting tables at
night to support herself. Before long, she would earn admission
to Touro where she met her husband, completed residency,
fellowship, had a beautiful baby, and here we are. It’s safe to say
her life is full.
Dr. Ichinoe and her husband, a practicing OB-GYN in town, are part
of the new generation of physicians acutely aware of the need for
more and better healthcare – and they are doing something about
it. “He and I have been very invested in this community [from their
days in medical school at Touro]. The city itself continues to grow,
and with that growth there’s an even bigger need, and we wanted
to be two of the people who stayed here and provided for the
community.”
Together, the Ichinoes have high hopes for the future of Southern
Nevada’s medical landscape. “My hope is for a medical system
where people from all backgrounds can get the care they
need without a layer of barriers,” she says. “I would like to see
continued growth, not only in the number of providers, but also in
the diversity of our providers.”
