PHDA testimonials

If you would like to specify which course(s) you would like to see testimonials for, you may do so by selecting the course(s) from the list below and hitting the APPLY filter button. You may select more than one course. Otherwise, the testimonials are listed below, in random order.
PHDA Overall program/course experience
"I would recommend this program to others, especially those I work with. The courses are great for professional development if individuals want to acquire new skills or keep their current skills up to date."

Louis Wong, Epidemiologist

 

PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"The GIS courses, PHDA 03 Population Health and GIS and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection provided the greatest benefits. They were excellent and introduced brand new skills for me. Prior to taking these courses I had some brief exposure to GIS within my Master’s program and through the free online PopData courses. The PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 course labs were very detailed and instructional, offering good balance between theory and practice. The courses generally had enough materials I could take away to continue working independently."

Sophy Zhang, Program Administrative Coordinator, Canadian Mental Health Association, BC Division

 

PHDA full testimonial
How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?

I was browsing for some relevant programs that would complement my current job as an epidemiologist.  This one caught my eye (and I went to UVic in the past) – the courses looked good, particularly the GIS ones which I wanted to learn as it hadn’t been part of my education up to that point.

Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?

It was really good. The coursework was comprehensive but not too time consuming.  The GIS courses were fantastic and provided great information, and the other courses were also relevant to my work (the program evaluation course and the working with admin data course).

How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?

Yes – I signed up to learn GIS, and I have been able to use some of those skills in my job.

What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.

I liked the method of instruction – videos that walked you through the steps of an assignment accompanied by PDF’s, which I thought helped me learn efficiently.

Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?

Yes – in fact I have… I recommended this to colleague of mine at another health unit in Ontario who recently got hired as an Epidemiologist.  She hadn’t had much education in the area and was looking for good programs so I mentioned this one, and she signed up.

Any additional comments you would like to add about the program or ways we can improve the educational experience?

Great program overall – all very relevant to my profession.

 

Dorian Lunny, Epidemiologist, Northwestern Health Unit

 

PHDA Overall program/course experience
"Allowing students to gain hands on experience remotely with software packages such as ArcMap, SAS, and Mplus while having the flexibility to work full time is invaluable. Also having the opportunity to use Population Data BC’s administrative data with these packages offered a type of learning experience that I could not have had anywhere else."

Adele Balram, Data Analyst, New Brunswick Institute for Research and Data Training

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PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection
"PHDA 03 and 04 provided useful tools for me. I had always wanted to learn to use ArcGIS software to explore health data, and have both a geography and clinical background, so PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 were especially interesting."

Amy Klepetar, Assistant Professor & Coordinator, School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia-Terrace