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Background  Uganda is beset by a shortage of health workers and the few available are mal-distributed. Providing rural exposure through community-based education could positively influence students’ perspectives towards work in rural areas. We aimed to assess the impact of Community-Based Education and Research (COBERS) on health professions students’ attitudes towards working in rural areas. This was a before-and-after study among 525 students of 4 medical universities in Uganda. Data was collected using self-administered paper-based questionnaires. Logistic regression and Poisson regression respectively were used to assess intention and intended number of years of work in rural areas.    Results  Before COBERS, 228/518 (44.0%) students indicated that they intended to work in rural areas as compared to 245/506 (48.4%) after the COBERS placement. Before the COBERS placement, the factors that were associated with students considering to work in a rural area were: extra allowance (OR = 0.2; 95% CI 0.1–0.6), and availability of social amenities (OR = 0.2; 95% CI 0.1–0.7). After their COBERS placement, the factors were: access to long distance courses (OR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.0–3.7) and being posted to a facility in a rural area (OR = 15.0; 95% CI 6.5–35.5). Before the COBERS placement the factors that influenced how long students thought they would be willing to work in a rural environment were: reliable electricity (IRR = 0.6; 95% CI 0.3–1.0) and Internet (IRR = 1.5; 95% CI 1.0–2.3), high salary (IRR = 0.4; 95% CI 0.3–0.7), and having skills to practice in rural settings (IRR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.3–3.1). Reliable electricity (IRR = 0.5; 95% CI 0.3–0.8) and long distance courses (IRR = 2.1; 95% CI 1.4–3.1) were significant motivators after having undergone the COBERS placement.    Conclusions  The majority of health professions students do not intend to work in rural areas after they graduate. Improving the welfare of health professionals working in rural areas could attract more health professionals to rural areas thus addressing the maldistribution of health workers in Uganda.

Influence of community-based education on undergraduate health professions students’ decision to work in underserved areas in Uganda