What are the four steps of the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle commonly used in ENT quality improvement?

• A. Plan a change, do it on a small scale, study results, act on findings.
• B. Plan, Implement, Review, Refine.
• C. Define problem, Collect data, Analyze, Implement solution.
• D. Assess outcomes, Plan intervention, Execute, Reassess.

Answer: (A)

The core idea here is an iterative, test-and-learn approach to improving processes. In this cycle you start by planning a specific change that you believe will lead to better outcomes. Then you test that change on a small scale to limit risk and learn quickly what happens. After the test, you study the results—looking at data and what actually occurred—to see whether the change produced the intended improvement. Based on what you learn, you act: adopt the change more broadly if it worked, refine the plan and re-test, or abandon it and try something else, feeding back into another cycle.

This exact sequence—Plan a change, Do it on a small scale, Study the results, Act on the findings—captures the essence of PDSA as a rapid, cyclical method for continuous improvement in ENT practice. The other options describe different frameworks or steps that don’t emphasize the small-scale testing and learning loop that defines PDSA.