National Medical Association President Dr. Leon McDougle (Courtesy photo) Vermont Business Magazine Consistent with a history that is rife with medical discrimination and abuse against Black people, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected BIPOC communities in the U.S., who are disproportionally employed as essential workers. Now, as vaccines are distributed to specific populations in phases, concerns are rising that this health disparity gap may widen. On Wednesday, January 20, Leon McDougle, MD, MPH, president of the National Medical Association, will address health care inequities as the Keynote Speaker for the University of Vermont's annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.