Stephen Ralph, MD, ABIM, DipACLM, is a primary care physician at Elms Creek Family and Urgent Care Clinic, providing care in Killeen and the surrounding central Texas communities. He is also on the courtesy staff at AdventHealth Central Texas Hospital and is proud to be the Health Ministries coordinator for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

Ralph relocated to Killeen in 2012 after practicing internal medicine for 25 years in New York City. He traces his love for medicine back to growing up around the medical practices of his father and grandfather, both of whom were general practitioners. “I never really considered any other career,” he shared.

After starting his studies at Fordham University, Ralph moved to Guadalajara, México, to attend medical school. There, he adopted the local language and culture, which has proved invaluable in caring for Hispanic patients throughout his career. He completed post-graduate training in internal medicine at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, attaining board certification. The majority of his experience since then has been in emergency medicine, and he attained board certification in that specialty, as well.

Since relocating to Central Texas in 2012, Ralph transitioned his practice to primary care internal medicine and increasingly began to focus on his current interest in lifestyle medicine, with its emphasis on prevention and reversal of chronic diseases such as diabetes. He attained board certification in lifestyle medicine in 2017 and Blue Zones health certification in 2026.

Due to his enthusiasm for recommending changes that can prevent or even reverse many Western illnesses, he has witnessed that his patients’ lifestyle choices—including the foods they eat as well as their physical activity, emotional well-being, and quality of sleep—all heavily influence their health. He encourages his patients through personal counseling and by recommending books, documentaries, and personal material on his website. 

Ralph is an active member of the Killeen Seventh-day Adventist Church, where he leads the Health Ministries program in initiatives such as the Diabetes Undone lifestyle intervention program and the Killeen chapter of Walk With a Doc. He is a strong advocate of the current Food Is Medicine and Health Equity movements, believing that no one’s health should be determined by where they live.

His wife, Ketsia, is the office manager for Killeen Adventist Academy, and the Ralphs have one daughter.