Annual Publication 2025 FINAL 05292025 accessible - Flipbook - Page 39
PHOTO: JULIAN FOX
HARRY CHING, MD
can take care of. For example, many plastic surgeons may
not want to do the more complicated procedures, such as
revision rhinoplasty, so instead of sending those patients
out-of-state, yes, I take care of those,” says Dr. Ching.
Surgery day typically starts at 7:30 a.m. and goes well
into the afternoon. “Sometimes I have a more complex
rhinoplasty that can take four to 昀椀ve hours. The longest
ones are patients who might have broken their nose
multiple times, may have had surgery on their nose before
and that makes everything more complicated because
of scar tissue and various factors … we may need to get
cartilage grafts from other areas. In those situations, we
have to reconstruct the nose and that can be a lot more
di昀케cult than a cosmetic rhinoplasty.”
According to Dr. Ching, “Some of the patients I’m managing,
there’s a very limited number of surgeons in town who
would take care of them, especially taking certain types
of insurance, and one of those doctors is starting to slow
down a bit.”
Indeed, according to the Association of American Medical
Colleges U.S. Physician Workforce Data Report, 26% of
the ENT physicians in Nevada are close to retirement
age, putting even more pressure on early and mid-career
surgeons like Dr. Ching. Thankfully, the native Northern
Californian likes being busy. “Yes, that’s the practice of
medicine, that’s how we hone our skills, how we get better,
and it’s how we take care of the community.”
Ching graduated with honors from medical school at the
University of California, Los Angeles and completed his
residency in otolaryngology - head & neck surgery at the
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine. Then, he went a step
further, completing a prestigious fellowship in facial
plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of
California, Irvine, where he trained with world-renowned
facial plastic surgeons in Orange County and Los Angeles.
Possessing sterling credentials, he could have gone into
private practice — where he could pick and choose his
cases. But there was something about academic medicine
that appealed to him.
“I was considering private cosmetic practice or a private
ENT practice, but this was an opportunity to build something
from the ground up,” says Dr. Ching. “It was the way I felt it
should be built … there was a need.” Dr. Ching also enjoys
training residents and helping the chair of otolaryngology,
Robert C. Wang, MD, build out the department. Dr. Wang
helped train and recruit Dr. Ching, and now enjoys seeing
him succeed. “Dr. Ching is a talented facial plastic and
nasal surgeon who emphasizes cosmesis with function
and is a strong component to our overall success as a
department,” says Dr. Wang. “He trained here, returned
after fellowship, and has built a 昀氀ourishing practice. We
are fortunate to have him. I can tell you that his patients
are extremely grateful for his excellent work.”
And that gratefulness is part of what drives Dr. Ching.
“The favorite part of my job is when I see patients a few
months after the procedure and they talk about the effects
the surgery has had on their lives. Some of my patients
were born with a crooked nose and can’t breathe properly.
We have to completely take apart the nose and then
rebuild it piece by piece, and that can be really challenging.
Afterwards, when we see we made the nose look more
normal, and their breathing has improved, that’s pretty
fantastic.”
Dr. Ching is also called to work on patients involved in
motor vehicle accidents, reconstructing their dis昀椀gured
faces, not just improving the look, but restoring function.
Thanks to his advanced training, he also is adept at
performing facelifts, blepharoplasty (eyelid surgery), brow
lifts, and Asian eyelid surgeries. He also specializes in
reconstruction of the face after skin cancer, treatment of
eyelid disorders, Botox injections, and injectable 昀椀llers.
Like so many other physicians who carry a heavy workload
due to the shortage of physicians in Southern Nevada, Dr.
Ching is almost philosophical about treating an underserved
community. “Our specialty is a very underserved one in our
city,” Dr. Ching says. “Not many new docs have come to
town, and we’ve lost a few to retirement. There’s a big need
in terms of head and neck cancer … because we’re the only
ones who do it. We only have so many hours in the day.”
But for Dr. Harry Ching, every hour of the day helping
patients is time well spent.
SUMMER 2025 MAGAZINE
39
