As a medical student at Touro University Nevada, Dr. Denice Ichinoe 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 first-hand the culture of support and camaraderie between the residents and the faculty,” 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 difficult 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, 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, 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 benefits 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 Jan. 1 as assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, 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 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 significant 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-so-elite 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 finds 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 five years, but over time I realized I wanted a connection to the people who benefit from the science.” So 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.
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.”
