Producing a general practice workforce

Background: Medical workforce problems still dominate headlines despite considerable investment in education, training and other initiatives. There is little consensus about what Australia's general practice workforce should look like or what training outcomes should be reported. Objective: The aim of this paper was to explore a number of issues relevant to outcomes of workforce programs and offer suggestions for identifying and overcoming these issues. Discussion: Social accountability literature highlights the importance of outcomes focusing on community needs. We suggest that evaluations should 'count what counts' and be careful what is counted. Numbers are only part of the story; not everything that counts is counted, and synergies and cooperation are key. Australia has many general practice workforce programs that are generally heading in the right direction. We believe that closer attention to appropriate outcome measures is important if we are to maximise return on investment and get the best outcomes for the community.