Introduction Multiple studies have found burnout to be the highest amongst Anaesthetists and Intensivists. A recent report by the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA) in 2017 reported a burnout rate of 85% amongst anaesthetic trainees. This project aimed to evaluate following questions:

• What are the levels of burnout among defence anaesthetic trainees?

• What are the main causes of burnout among defence anaesthetic trainees?

Methods We conducted an on-line anonymous survey across all trainees within the military anaesthesia cadre which consisted of the following sections:

• Demographics

• Oldenburg Burnout Inventory

• Baseline Mental Health (PHQ 9 & GAD 7)

• Stressors (Severity and Frequency)

Results Whilst the burnout rate appears relatively high at 57.9%, it was comparatively lower against the RCoA report. Army (53%) and RAF (46%) trainees had similar rates of burnout whilst the Navy (76.9%) had notably a higher rate. Gender and seniority did not seem to have an effect on burnout. The findings of this study are more in line with other baseline burnout studies than the RCoA welfare report.

Conclusions The effect of work on personal/family life and administrative burdens seem to be consistent regardless of burnout status. The perceived degree of workload and staff/resource availability appears to be discriminatory to those labelled low risk potentially mirroring the differences seen between services and highlights potential areas to modify our risk of burnout within our cadre.