Ralph S. Bovard

Occupational, Environmental & Preventive Medicine Physician @HealthPartners

Minneapolis, MN, US

Dr. Bovard is board certified in Preventive Medicine & Occupational Medicine and is a Fellow of ACSM, ACPM, and ACOEM. He has > 30 years of clinical practice experience, working in occupational, preventive, musculoskeletal & sports medicine. He was a Twin Cities “top doc” in OEM in 2021 and in Sports Medicine in 2006 & 2007. He has special interests in the concept of the “industrial athlete and in cardiovascular fitness & body composition as they relate to overall health and wellness. Dr. Bovard has worked in altitude & cold injury research on Mt. McKinley (1983), as a missionary doctor in Papua New Guinea (1986-87), an Everest expedition physician (1989), as an Aspen, Colorado ski clinic MD (1990-93), as the set doctor for the movie “River Wild” (1993), and as a base physician at Palmer Station, Antarctica (1996-97). He has traveled internationally with the US Alpine Ski Team & Figure Skating Teams. Dr. Bovard was a co-founder, CMO, & on the board of directors of Exos, Inc (a medical thermoplastic casting company) from 2007-10. He was president of Northland Chapter of ACSM (2002-03) and served on the ACSM board of trustees (2005-08). He served as a member of the ACSM “Exercise is Medicine” task force and was a consultant for the Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee of the US Anti-Doping Agency from 2005-15. Dr. Bovard graduated from the University of Minnesota medical school in 1984. He has a master’s degree in Public Health both from the U. of Arizona. He earned a BA in Literature from St. Olaf College (1976) and studied at Oxford University during his senior year. He was an executive producer on the film The Quiet Hour; and is in collaboration with Frenzy Films (London) on a screenplay called The White Shaman. He competes in masters swimming & xc-skiing.