Hope is NOT a Plan

Hope is NOT a Plan


How Jonas Salk Used the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycle to Cure Polio | Five-Minute Friday 14

June 21, 2024

In this episode, How Jonas Salk Used the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Cycle to Cure Polio, I evaluate the actions Jonas Salk took to develop the world-changing polio vaccine and how they parallel and exemplify the Plan Do Study Act or "PDSA" cycle used in scientific and medical studies. Further, I share how we can each implement PDSA in personal and professional areas of our lives.


Salk and PDSA:

  • How he planned:
  • Altered his initial influenza vaccine techniques to address polio with the killed virus vaccine concept
  • How he did:
  • Salk wrote numerous papers that raised awareness and funds for polio vaccine development
  • How he studied:
  • Reviewed and studied the reaction of the vaccine in over a million-volunteer test subjects
  • How he acted
  • He stuck with his concepts, reduced polio instances by ~80%, and expanded polio vaccination to over 90 countries


Stay safe, consider the PDSA cycle to improve areas of your personal and professional life, and Godspeed,


Kevin