Medical Doctor
Ralph Sutherlin
Dr. Ralph M. Sutherlin is Board Certified in Preventive-Occupational/Aerospace Medicine and Family Medicine. He moved to Northern Idaho in 2020 after twenty years in Boise, and retired from the US Air Force in 2021 as the State Air Surgeon for the Idaho Air National Guard.
Trained in Family Medicine, he found his passion for Preventive Medicine while serving in the US Air Force. He later obtained his Master of Public Health for Occupational and Preventive Medicine at Harvard University, and then a residency in Preventive Medicine/Aerospace Medicine/Occupational Medicine at the School of Aerospace Medicine in San Antonio, Texas.
Dr. Sutherlin became a doctor to have the ability to combat disease, alleviate suffering and pain, and teach healthy lifestyles. In the early years of medical school, choosing a specialty was a tough decision as he loved pediatrics, sports medicine, obstetrics, surgery and emergency medicine. Dr. Sutherlin wanted to be “a country doc, making house calls with my horse and buggy”. He knew family medicine would be the best choice. As the years evolved, time and experience shifted his focus to the importance of prevention.
Dr. Sutherlin’s medical philosophy is preventing the disease from occurring in the first place by keeping an open mind to look outside the box and try nonstandard therapies, when needed. He focuses on identifying illness and disease before they become symptomatic, with the aim to significantly reduce the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes and trying to solve the acute and chronic degeneration of our anatomy. As a physician, he hopes to influence his patients to gain a balance of their physical, mental and spiritual health by getting to know each patient and touch their lives.
During his free time, he enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, Val, his kids, grandkids and friends. He and his wife are both avid aviators and love to fly on their days off. Their other passion is exploring the depths of the oceans, as SCUBA DiverMasters.