"The flexibility of timing due to the entirely online nature of the program stood out to me. I could work on things when I had the time, which I think is a great feature for people who are generally working full time. I also liked the mix of discussion and individual assignments in the courses; getting to hear others’ opinions and experiences was very useful."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA Overall program/course experience
PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics
"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 full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
-
I was in Canada and the program seemed a perfect fit to my interests.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
-
I thoroughly enjoyed the courses, although sometimes I had trouble keeping up. Having said that, I found the lecturers very sympathetic to my needs. It was great to develop more understanding of the analysis of administrative datasets and in particular learning how to use geocoded data.
- How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?
-
I will use my skills to undertake some more specific analysis using linked data. In particular, I plan to undertake some mapping of hotspots where illicit drug use is most common. For my interests at this time I found longitudinal data analysis and geocoding 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.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
-
The flexibility of the modules was very good and I appreciated learning from other students when there was something I couldn’t solve. For example when I couldn’t run a particular program, I could easily get assistance with this. Having access to previous assignments on the same topics made things much easier as well.
- Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?
-
Yes, I would recommend this program and regularly circulate information about the courses as updates come to me.
- Any additional comments you would like to add?
-
It was a really great experience and I learnt a great many new things so thank you!
PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation
"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."
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"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."
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 2025 | All rights reserved