"Epidemiological Statistics was a great refresher for advanced statistics using sample data sets and applied examples. It was a very useful and informative course."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"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 Overall program/course experience
"The program’s strength emerged from how the courses were offered sequentially (eg: PHDA 03 and then PHDA 04) and 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."
PHDA Overall program/course experience
"One of the greatest strengths of the program is the access to the Secure Research Training Lab. It holds practical, well written, easy to follow lab activities in data analytics and a very used de-identified BC Heath Dataset as well as other health related training datasets for applied learning. This provided an excellent learning environment for professional development training in data analytics."
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll in the PHDA course(s) you chose?
-
I learned about the program when I tried to find a training program in the public health area. Later, one classmate also recommended that I enrol in the program. My motivation to take this program was to improve my analysis skills and use them in my work.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
-
I learned how to use several popular software programs such as SAS, R, ArcGIS and Mplus. All of them are very helpful. The PHDA 06 course about Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation helped me evaluate my work program.
- How do you plan to apply your new skills in your work/research?
-
Actually, I used SAS, R and ArcGIS in my work when I was taking the PHDA courses. I hope multilevel modelling analysis will be used in my future work as well.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
-
The courses taught software skills in SAS, ArcGIS, Mplus and also used administrative metadata to teach us how to analyze those data. They matched the routine activities that I am involved in at my work place. The evaluation of the PHDA program is helpful to guarantee the high quality of program.
- Would you recommend PHDA courses to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in completing these courses?
-
I would like to recommend PHDA courses to others. I believe the program is very practical and useful to those working in the public health field. It provides a good opportunity for the development of a future career plan.
- Are there any additional comments that you would like to add?
-
The courses in the program are very helpful but it is not easy to finish them, especially when I had to work in the daytime and then do course studies after work and on the weekend. However, all courses are valuable. I have acquired the knowledge and skills which will forever help me in my work and study.
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
Sign up for e-news and keep up to date with what's new at PopData, including the latest on data access, data available and upcoming events.
Follow us on Bluesky and check out our YouTube Channel. 
Copyright 2026 | All rights reserved