Study: More than half of doctors are burned out

More than half of all doctors are burned out or face emotional exhaustion.

That's according to a new study.

Researchers with the Institute of Medicine say an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 deaths per year are caused by medical errors due to exhaustion.

Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine anonymously surveyed more than 6,600 physicians in active practice.

They were asked to fill out standardized questionnaires looking at their levels of burnout, well-being, fatigue and symptoms of depression.

In addition, the doctors were asked to grade the safety of their workplace and comment on any major medical errors they may have made.

Just over 10 percent of doctors reported making a major medical error in the three months before the survey, with about 1 in 20 of these errors being fatal.

The most common mistakes were “errors in judgment,” followed by incorrect diagnosis and technical errors.

Radiologists, neurosurgeons and emergency room doctors reported the most errors while pediatrics, psychiatrists and anesthesiologists reported the fewest.