About Us
The mission of UV&Me is to educate youth (k-12) with the knowledge to protect themselves and their loved ones from dangers of skin cancer and UV exposure. Description: UV&Me is an organization that exists in select medical school such as UCI, UCSD, USC, and Cornell to promote protection against UV radiation. Our chapter will use existing course material to provide education to nearby San Francisco students (primarily in elementary, middle, and high schools) regarding the importance of sun protection from a young age, while also encouraging interest in medicine. Although melanoma is more than 20 times more common in white individuals than in African Americans, skin cancer is diagnosed at a later stage in these populations. Consequently, the 5-year-survival rate for melanoma is significantly worse for people of color, which signifies a need to increase education and outreach to all individuals from a young age. Our organization will augment the existing course material to raise awareness of skin cancer in people of color in addition to meeting the goal of the organization. Finally, we will incorporate the importance of ophthalmologic protection against UV radiation to promote early public health interventions in order to prevent various negative health outcomes. Through these efforts, we hope to increase awareness of skin cancer and eye disease, address healthcare disparities in skin of color, and encourage interest in healthcare in young individuals.
