"I plan to undertake some mapping of hotspots where illicit drug use is most common. For my interests at this time, I found the longitudinal data analysis course (PHDA 05) and geocoding skills in (PHDA 03) were the most helpful. This is because with increasing use of multiple drugs it is important to determine where outbreaks occur and be able to establish cohorts of people who use these substances and then follow over time determining predictors of change."
"I found PHDA 05 (Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modelling of Population Health Data) to be the most rewarding as it exposed me to higher level quantitative analyses."
"I developed an understanding of not only how descriptive statistics can be geographically interpreted, but also how inferential statistics can be geographically interpreted. It taught me how to begin thinking spatially in-terms of patterns of health outcomes – neighbourhood make up, neighbourhood location, infrastructure, environmental concerns, etc."
"PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation course was a bit different as it did not have an SRTL lab component. I had taken a very similar course within my Master’s degree but it wasn’t as applied as the PHDA 06 course which had a very practical project component. I found the instructor’s experience and feedback as well as the peer review work really enabled me to get a lot out of the course evaluation project I completed."
I was browsing for the statistical method (longitudinal analysis) on the Google website as it related to a project I was doing at work. Then, I found the course (PHDA05) on the search results. After reviewing the program description, I found the program included many courses that I was most interested in. The course lab components were particularly attractive as they enabled me to practice with various statistical software including SAS, ArcGIS, and Mplus and work with actual health administrative data.
Overall, the course(s) experience was great. The greatest benefit to me was learning about GIS and practicing the learning through lab assignments with ArcGIS in the PHDA 03 course. Meeting classmates online with diverse backgrounds/experience, sharing ideas and learning from each other on the various topics was another valuable experience. Often, I was inspired by many of my classmates who were passionate about the topic that we were asked to discuss in the discussion forum. They brought their real-life examples from school and work. Just by reading other students’ thoughts or comments motivated me to participate and helped me learn and digest concepts in different ways.
Personally, I haven’t had a specific chance yet to apply what I’ve learned through the program. In the near future, I hope that there is a chance for me to learn more about GIS and use ArcGIS by applying what I’ve learned from The Population Health and GIS course (PHDA 03). With only one course of completion in GIS, I don’t have enough confidence with ArcGIS skills I learned to complete a GIS related work project on my own at this point.
Personally, I benefited by having access to various analytic tools and different types/sources of health administrative data. They included a good balance of practice and theory. I did not find these kinds of courses were available to me when I was at University. In addition, I had very practical hands-on practice using statistical analytic tools such as SAS or ArcGIS which are not freely available for public use.
Yes, I would definitely recommend this program to my colleagues or others who would like to develop analytical skills and knowledge in data analysis and the use of health data. I found the Moodle course site was well organized with good technical support. The instructors were also very helpful.
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
Follow us on Bluesky and check out our YouTube Channel. 
Copyright 2025 | All rights reserved