The strengths of the program are the course offerings (which are attractive at first glance), the instructors, the practical work/applications, and the support/information network of peers. The work with PopData data was very engaging and a privilege – I hope that continues to be offered.
I would also strongly recommend it to someone who wishes to transition into epidemiology or public health-related professions before they pursue graduate level studies. These courses may offer the training they need."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA Overall program/course experience
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"I found PHDA 03 (Population Health and Geographic Information Systems) very interesting as it provided applicable GIS uses for health services research. I plan on increasingly incorporating GIS analyses in my health services research in order to understand another dimension of care accessibility during the end-of-life phase. "
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
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I learned about the PHDA program through browsing on web and was motivated to get more training in population health data analysis while working full-time.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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Although the course load was a bit heavy at times, I think I’ve learned a lot and developed hands-on experience in analyzing population health data using SAS and ArcGIS.
- How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?
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I have not yet had a chance to utilize all the knowledge and skills I’ve gained in my current work, but definitely have a better understanding of results that are analyzed using ArcGIS.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
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The strengths of this program include: good organization of coursework, exposure to variety of relevant topics, hands-on experience using several analytical software, excellent support and feedback by instructors, and a flexible schedule.
- Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?
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I would definitely recommend colleagues and others to take this program for further professional development.
- Any additional comments you would like to add?
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My program experience has been great and thank you for all the support I received from instructors and staff members in the PHDA program.
PHDA Overall program/course experience
"It was really good for me to gain more experience working with large data sets and use a secure research environment to get used to the complexities of various kinds of datasets we come across daily. The spatial data and network analysis work, applied longitudinal analysis techniques and foundational SAS skills I learned really benefitted my research work. Now when I am faced with new problems, I feel better equipped and much more confident to handle them.
I have done some online courses before. I felt the courses in this program were well organized. The labs were very useful and very applied, instructors were always available to answer questions and the weekly or biweekly course modules provided structure but also some flexibility."
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
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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?
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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?
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It was a really great experience and I learnt a great many new things so thank you!
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
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