mmg.com.au

With both parents local school teachers, Shepparton’s Ruth McLeod has broken the mould.

The second-year medical student is passionate about public health issues and hopes to inform the region about immunisation this week.

Ruth is one of five people becoming a journalist for a day today as part of The News’ You Write the News competition.

‘‘I’m interested in writing about public health and writing about immunisation because that’s a big issue in the news at the moment,’’ Ruth said.

‘‘There’s a couple of different angles you can take ... I’d like to focus more about what the rates are like in the Goulburn Valley, what people are doing to change that and how we’re travelling as a region in terms of immunisation.’’

The former Goulburn Valley Grammar School student said she was excited to find out she would be working at The News as a journalist today.

‘‘I just thought it would be a really good opportunity to have a go at something and write about something I’ve always had my eye on, from a public health perspective,’’ Ruth said.

Ruth is studying a medical degree at Monash University, Clayton and will spend next year at Bendigo Health on placement.

One completed, she hopes to work in the public health and general practice sectors to start her career.

The News has selected five people to join its editorial team today. The lucky five will spend the whole day with the editorial team — attending jobs with journalists and photographers, offering story ideas and writing their own story about an issue of their choice.