Local regional workforce returns on investment of a locally governed and delivered general practice vocational training program.

This study evaluated a program arising from the Commonwealth policy of regionalised training for general practice with regard to the outcomes for the region investing in the training program. A complete operational audit was performed of the outcomes of a training provider of the Commonwealth program, evaluating workforce contribution and retention in the region during and after training, stratified for the effects of locally contextualising, advanced skill training and origin of trainee. The local regional workforce contribution during training peaked at 130 full-time equivalents in 2015. Cumulatively, 53% of alumni remained in the region, but over 40% moved to practice in metropolitan south-east Queensland and other Australian capital cities. Local contextualising of training, completing additional advanced skills training and being an Australian graduate were associated with increased retention in the region. A regional training program is a significant local asset introducing potential general practitioners (GPs) to the region. However, this regional area has become a 'rural' training ground for GPs into metropolitan practice rather than local investment translating as comprehensively as possible into long-term local workforce. The Commonwealth program should focus on local workforce outcomes as an evaluation metric rather than the proportion of trainees in rural training.