Dr. Hovan is a board-certified specialist in Oral Medicine with both the BC College of Oral Health Professionals and the American Academy of Oral Medicine. He started his career as a general dentist in White Rock BC after completing his undergraduate dental degree at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Later, he completed specialist training in Oral Medicine and earned a Master of Science (Dentistry) degree at the University of Washington.

He is a past President of both the International Society of Oral Oncology and the Canadian Academy of Oral Medicine & Pathology. In addition to private practice, he was the Provincial Lead for the Oral Oncology/Dentistry program at BC Cancer until 2019. He has published extensively in the areas of Oral Medicine and Oral Oncology and teaches at the UBC Faculty of Dentistry.