Dr. Ralph L. Mills is a native of Madisonville, Tenn. Dr. Mills joined ETSU/BucSports, the athletic medicine arm of the ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics, in December 2003.  He has served as the Team Physician for East Tennessee State athletes since 2004.

A graduate of King College, Mills earned his M.D. degree from the James H. Quillen College of Medicine in 1984 and completed his family practice residency with ETSU Family Physicians of Kingsport, where he was named “Most Outstanding Senior Resident” in 1987. At one time he was the youngest licensed physician in the state of Tennessee.  He is board certified by the American Board of Family Practice and holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Sports Medicine,for which he scored in the top one-third percentile on his certificationexam.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Medicine.

Locally, Mills serves as a team physician for Daniel Boone High School and annually helps coordinate and organize sports physicals for over 1,000 middle and high school athletes.  He holds a teaching appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor of Family Medicine with the Quillen College of Medicine, and teaches/runs a rotation in Sports Medicine for Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Pediatric residents.

He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine(ACSM), American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians (TAFP), and the Southern Medical Association (SMA).

Mills also been affiliated with Appalachian Orthopaedic Associates in Johnson City since 2001, and continues to have a private practice of Sports Medicine there. 

He currently resides in Johnson City and is married to Candance (Candi) Mills and has two children, Tripp and Laney.