Leon McDougle, MD, MPH
The Ohio State University College of Medicine
As the first African-American professor with tenure in The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine’s department of family and community medicine, Leon McDougle, MD, MPH, associate vice president of community health, mentoring, and engagement, has charted a trailblazing path. In his practice as a family physician, Dr. McDougle has been ranked among the top 10% of health providers for patient satisfaction and recognized by Best Doctors in America. As an educator and internationally renowned leader, Dr. McDougle has had an incalculable impact in promoting a health care workforce that includes people from all backgrounds and experiences.
In his 20 years as director of OSU College of Medicine’s premedical program, Medical Careers Pathway Post Baccalaureate Program (MEDPATH), Dr. McDougle has advised and mentored more than 200 medical students from disadvantaged backgrounds. He cultivated partnerships with OSU College of Medicine biomedical sciences leadership and faculty and several other higher education institutions to cocreate and colead the Discovery Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), a National Institute of General Medical Sciences program designed to support students interested in pursuing a PhD in the biomedical sciences, who are from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Dr. McDougle has served on panels for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health; and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Committee. He also served as a senior research mentor for the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases’ Network of Minority Health Research Investigators. He serves on the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute Board of Directors.
In 2020, Dr. McDougle was installed as the 121st president of the National Medical Association and guided the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic. In part because of his leadership and extensive public outreach during that time, vaccine confidence in the Black community improved nationally, from 20% in December 2020 to 55% in March 2021; by October 2021, 73% of Black adults had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
A long-time contributor to the AAMC, Dr. McDougle has served as faculty for the HEDIC program and the Minority Faculty Leadership Development Seminar. He served as national chair of the AAMC GDI from 2013 to 2015 and on the AAMC Group on Student Affairs’ Committee on Student Diversity Affairs.
Often recognized for his contributions to the practice of medicine and medical education, Dr. McDougle has received several prestigious awards, including the 2024 Ray Miller Crystal Stair Award from the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. This award honors Ohioans who have made significant contributions to the goal of eliminating health disparities.
Dr. McDougle earned a BA in biology from the University of Toledo and an MD from OSU College of Medicine in 1989. In 1992, he completed a family medicine residency at the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in California, and earned an MPH in health management and policy from the University of Michigan in 2001.