Introduction: The operating theatre (OT) is a fundamental environment fostering rich, powerful learning experiences for trainees and if not well structured could potentially be a challenging place for learning to occur. The global number and distribution of surgical workforce is insufficient with low-resource setting such as Zambia disproportionately affected posing a major challenge to safer surgical care, training and negates learning experiences. Despite the extensive interest in assessing the registrars' perceptions of teaching and learning in the OT settings elsewhere using various validated tools, there has not been a qualitative study on this subject in this setting. This study aimed to explore factors that either facilitate or inhibit Anaesthesia, Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynaecology trainees' learning experiences in OT settings. Methods: Thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom among year 2-4 anaesthesia, surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology registrars at the University Teaching Hospitals in Lusaka following ethical approval and informed consent. The tool was developed based on the critical incident technique. Thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed verbatim using the six steps approach to develop emerging themes. Results: Four main themes were generated which reflect perceptions of the theatre learning experience of registrars. These are(i) the process of learning in OT- showing the different learning strategies that trainees have adopted (experiential, situated, self-directed); (ii)the role of the supervisor (availability, attributes and feedback); (iii) supportive learning environment which enables positive learning experiences (positive influence from OT stuff); and (iv) non-supportive learning environment indicating a perceived barrier to their learning (limited resources, service provision, burnout). Discussion: In most settings, learning of medicine has been through apprenticeship however in the recent past the move has been to have competency-based with a core curriculum that has well-defined learning outcomes. Learning new things goes beyond acquiring knowledge but contextualising and application of new knowledge meaning one ought to understand concepts, but a novice is at pains without knowing what to expect. For procedural skills in the OT context which involves human life, patient safety becomes a priority and must be guarded. The variability in the level of supervision from superiors and complexity of the OT cases coupled with the imbalance between service provision and protected learning time affected the trainees' experiences in the OT setting. Conclusion: Establishing peer support groups which are supported by a supervisor could ensure some clinical competences and confidence are achieved earlier on by trainees; trainers should provide appropriate and timely feedback on which the trainees can reflect and construct new information and feedback should be two-way; and establishing continuous multidisciplinary teambuilding workshops within the OT settings would enhance learning experiences in the short term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]