Trainee doctors: Burnout risk falls, but “unwelcome sexual conduct” is rising, finds GMC survey

The risk of trainee doctors experiencing burnout or discrimination has slightly decreased, the latest annual survey from the General Medical Council has suggested.

However, there was “a small but real increase” in the number of trainee doctors reporting having experienced regular unwelcome sexual conduct in the workforce.

This year’s GMC national training survey was completed by 51 727 doctors in postgraduate medical training and 22 923 trainers.

For trainees, measures relating to workload slightly improved when compared with last year. For example, 22% of trainees reported that their working pattern left them feeling short of sleep on a daily or weekly basis, down from 24% in 2025.

By collating responses to seven work related questions, the GMC calculated that 61% of doctors in training were still considered to be at moderate or high risk of burnout—down one percentage point from last year.

Doctors in training reported fewer experiences of discriminatory behaviours across several areas. For example, 28% reported they had experienced microaggressions, negative comments, or oppressive body language from colleagues, down from 29% in 2025.

However, 141 trainees reported experiencing unwelcome sexual conduct in the workplace on a daily or weekly basis in 2026, an increase of 23 trainees from 2025.

The GMC said any rise in this measure matters and that trainees must be able to work and learn free from harassment. “We will continue to expect organisations to take direct action to address this,” the report said.

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Source: BMJ, 21 July 2026