BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Over the course of five years, researchers at the Mayo Clinic regularly surveyed physicians on quality of life, levels of depression or fatigue and any medical mistakes they thought they had made.

They found that mental fatigue and distress made physicians significantly more likely to make major medical errors.

Another study at the University of Rochester looked at ways to address the high levels of burnout reported by physicians. They found that physicians who went through an eight-week intensive program that focused on relaxation and mindful communication reported improvements in their feelings of well-being.

This study highlighted how important it is for doctors to address their own physical and mental well-being so that they can properly address their patients' needs.

Programs focused on relaxation and personal well-being like the one in the study are becoming a more common feature in medical education and are used to decrease anxiety among medical students and decrease levels of exhaustion and distress among physicians.