Skin cancer is the most common type in the United States. Each May, the American Academy of Dermatology promotes Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month to bring awareness to the topic. If you’re interested in helping people prevent, detect and treat skin cancer, you have quite a few options of health care career paths to go down. You may be aware of how dermatologists and oncologist help people who suffer from this disease, but did you know the role that environmental health advocates play as well?

Environmental health advocates spend their time identifying potential threats to public health, increasing awareness about them and ensuring that people have all of the facts that they need to protect their health and promote well-being. These health professionals played a major part in raising awareness about the health effects caused by texting while driving, smoking, eating trans fats and not wearing seatbelts. They focus on minimizing public fear and overreaction by empowering people with the information they need to avoid health issues.

Much of public health advocate work is done in an office environment and includes tasks such as analyzing data and developing response strategies. While a typical work week can be 37 to 40 hours, overtime and weekend work may be required if a public health threat emerges.

With a very good job outlook and an average salary of $45K-110K, spending the required 4-6 years to become an environmental health advocate is a great idea for people interested in promoting prevention, helping people to make healthier choices to avoid preventable diseases.