The Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health celebrated its tenth anniversary Friday night in Goderich.
Vice-President Gwen Devereaux said over their 10 years, they've had 90 students work with them at Gateway.
"It's significant because when we can have them in our region and we can showcase some of our health care institutions, then, the far better chance of recruiting them into our region once they graduate," she explained.
Devereaux added it takes a special person, with a special skill set to practice medicine in a rural community and that time working with Gateway provides and opportunity for medical students to find out if they're one of those people.
"That's the goal at Gateway," she said. "We do have a higher rate of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases than the urban regions, so that's why Gateway exists and we're just trying to help our local residents and keep them healthier."
Devereaux said when they were looking at starting up, they had to go to Kentucky to find a centre of excellence in rural health because there wasn't anything like it in Canada and she adds, there still isn't -- except for Gateway.