"Both the PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 courses have made me confident working in ArcGIS, and applying principles of GIS/mapping to population health data and working on spatial analyses. In particular, what has been most helpful about these courses is applying the background theory to surveillance and research questions and walking through the analysis from start to finish, including interpretation of results."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection
"Courses which benefited me the most are PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographic Information System (GIS) and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection.
I am really satisfied with these courses especially the hands-on experience gained while using ArcMap to map diseases and assess spatial dependences. Skills developed include generating choropleth map, joining attribute tables to shapefile and perform geographically weighted regressions."
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"I took the Population Health and GIS (PHDA 03) course and loved it! The opportunity to work with GIS technology and expand my skill set in this area was invaluable. It also helped to visualize the outbreak work I had been doing previously, and increase my understanding of what happens in these scenarios.
I plan to focus my work more specifically on infectious diseases, and the GIS skills I learned will be invaluable for visualizing and understanding their impacts more concretely.
There is great support by both the instructor and the course administrators. All of my questions were answered promptly and thoroughly. The coursework was challenging, but manageable for students like me working full time. The assignments were also very engaging, and all had practical applications."
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
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I got to know about the program through my former master’s thesis supervisor. My quest to broaden my knowledge in geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial epidemiology motivated me to enrol in the program.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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I am really satisfied with the course especially the hands-on experience gained while using ArcMap to map diseases and assess spatial dependences. Skills developed include generating choropleth map, joining attribute tables to shapefile and perform geographically weighted regressions. Courses which benefited me the most are PHDA 03-Population Health and Geographic Information System (GIS), PHDA 01-Working with Administration Data and PHDA-04-Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection.
- How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?
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I have not yet applied the acquired skills to my research, but the skills will be useful for my future research work.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
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The program’s strength emerged from how the courses were offered with typical examples such as offering PHDA 03 before PHDA 04 and also the incorporation of Lab work into the course curriculum which provided the opportunity for more practical knowledge to be gained. Another strength is the friendly learning environment and willingness of the instructors to go an extra mile to assist students to understand concepts and course materials.
- Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?
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Yes. I recommend this program to students, especially those with no prior knowledge in spatial epidemiology and GIS and are keen on knowing more about these areas.
- Any additional comments you would like to add?
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I have not regretted enrolling in this program, and have actually enhanced my skill set.
PHDA Overall program/course experience
"Great instructors with content expertise who are also very accessible for extra support, good class size with diverse classmates, and flexibility that online learning offers."
University of British Columbia, 201-2206 East Mall, Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3
Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN) member
International Population Data Linkage Network (IPDLN) member
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