Dr. Chinnock was the recipient of a US Navy scholarship for medical school, and graduated from Loma Linda University School of Medicine in 1982. He did his internship in pediatrics at LLUMC and then after a year as a battalion surgeon with the US Marines at Camp Pendleton, he finished his residency, including a chief residency, in pediatrics at the US Naval Hospital in San Diego. After completing his active duty commitment, he remained in the US Naval Reserve, serving at US Naval Hospital, San Diego, as Officer-in-Charge of the medical detachment for 4th Tanks Battalion, and at various duty stations around the United States. He was recalled to active duty in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. He retired after 25 years of service at the rank of Navy Captain.
After residency Dr. Chinnock spent 3 years as a general pediatrician at a small navy hospital in South Carolina, where he served as Department Head and then Director for Medical Services.
Dr. Chinnock was recruited back to Loma Linda in 1989 to be a part of the heart transplant team. He became the director of the heart transplant team in 1992 and is an internationally recognized expert in pediatric heart transplantation, with nearly 90 manuscripts, 12 book chapters and 145 abstracts published in his field. He is a member of the prestigious American Pediatric Society.
His career as a general pediatrician has also included time spent as an ER doctor, a hospitalist, a child abuse expert, a sleep medicine consultant and a technical consultant to the USAID Palestine Project. He was the director of the pediatric residency program for 12 years, and has been the chair of pediatrics at Loma Linda University School of Medicine since 2003. He was named chief medical officer of LLU Children’s Hospital in 2015.
Dr. Chinnock has a secondary appointment at LLU School of Public Health as a professor in the Center for Leadership in Health Systems, and teaches the orientation to leadership course for the Doctor of Public Health program.
Recognizing the need for physician leaders to enhance their knowledge and skills in the administrative side of medicine, he matriculated in 2011 and graduated in 2013 from Harvard School of Public Health with a Master of Science degree in Health Care Management.
He is married to his high school sweetheart. His two sons and their wives have blessed them with 4 grandchildren.
