"I enjoyed the Health Evaluation course (PHDA 06). Although I am familiar with this subject area, I found the concepts were presented in an effective way. Over the 12 weeks, we put together a health evaluation proposal. Work from each weekly module contributed to this final project. I think this was an interesting way to learn about the practical aspects of Health Evaluation."
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.
"For my current job role, PHDA 06 evaluation course reinforced work planning, stakeholder engagement planning, and reporting planning skills -- their corresponding activities are prevalent at my job."
"The Health Evaluation and Program Monitoring (PHDA 06) course really helped me land a job after graduation. PHDA 06 was different from the other PHDA courses. It felt a bit like a satellite course in the program as it included a health evaluation project rather than data analysis lab work. I learned a lot from the peer review process we used. I have applied evaluation skills that I learned from this course, including logic models, evaluation methodology, gantt charts and interview guides."
"The PHDA 03 Population and GIS course provided me with a skill set that I would have had difficulty learning on my own. I was able to apply training from this course and the Epidemiological Statistics course (PHDA 02) to some of my current work that is assessing how we can improve quality of life related follow-up for British Columbian cancer patients after they have received their treatment. We were interested in seeing how follow-up for British Columbian patients differs with different levels of access to resources based on their geographical location. The analysis would have been much more difficult without the skills that I had learned in these two courses."
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