“Skin Cancer and School Children”

DATELINE: COHASSET, QUINCY AND PLYMOUTH, MASS… The Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children and the Melanoma Education Foundation will hold a joint skin cancer workshop for nurses, educators and parents on Friday, November 17th, from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy, Mass.

The “Skin Cancer and School Children” workshop is open to nurses, teachers, parents and survivors. More than 80 nurses attended the 5th annual educational event last year.

The objectives of the “Skin Cancer and School Children” workshop include reviewing the clinical characteristics of benign and pre-malignant lesions in children; discussing epidemiologic trends in melanoma; exploring UV light and Vitamin D metabolism controversies; evaluating the role of tanning; describing recent research findings that investigated the impact of sun protection education; describing teaching strategies for skin cancer prevention and explaining the impact of melanoma diagnosis on a young person’s life.

The speakers include:
• Richard F. Eisen, M.D. Dermatologist and Director of South Shore Skin Center in Cohasset and Plymouth.
• Maryellen Maguire-Eisen, RN, MSN, Executive Director of Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children.
• Marie France Demierre, M.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology and Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine.
• Steve Fine, PhD., President, Melanoma Education Foundation.
• Gary Rodgers, M.D., Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Oncology at Tufts-New England Medical Center.
• Shelly M. North, B.S., Medical Esthetician, Glow Skin Care Salon
• Glenna Kohl, 23 will give a talk on personal reflections of a melanoma survivor. Kohl, a recent graduate of Salve Regina University, first had a melanoma removed at age 18.

CEU’s (4.8) will be awarded. Registration sign-in and breakfast is at 8 a.m. Lunch will be served at 12 p.m.

The registration fee for the “Skin Cancer and School Children” workshop is $50. Registration deadline is November 10th. Registration forms may be obtained by calling 781-875-1SPF (1773) or emailing maryellen@melanomaprevention.org.

This program is sponsored by an educational grant from Schering Plough Corporation and the local support of the American Cancer Society.

The Melanoma Education Foundation is a Peabody-based foundation that trains wellness teachers and nurses about skin cancer and provides them with materials to teach the subject to high school and middle school students in a single-class session. Its SkinCheck® curriculum is being used in more than 400 schools.

About the Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children
The Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to increasing awareness in the prevention and detection of skin cancer in school age children. The Hingham-based Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children, formerly known as the Sun Protection Foundation, started in 2003 to provide a grassroots skin cancer prevention program to school children. The foundation’s Learn Not 2 Burn Program is a multi-layered program delivered to children in elementary and high schools, teaching both skin cancer prevention and early detection. The foundation has been endorsed by the Dermatology Nurses Association. For more information about the Melanoma Prevention Foundation for Children, contact 781-875-1SPF (1773).