PHDA testimonials

I learned about it through emails from PopData BC a few years ago. I took at least one class before I enrolled in the program, so the high quality of the class and instructor, as well as the online video testimonials I watched, motivated me to enroll.

I took PHDA 01, PHDA 02, PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 and I would say that they all provided useful skills to me. I had always wanted to learn to use ArcGIS software to explore health data, and have both a geography and clinical background, so PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 were especially interesting. Through the program, I came to learn about the enormous benefits of using already-collected administrative health data, and the process for doing so. I think my skills with SAS and ArcGIS will be the most useful to me, but the larger concepts of data integrity, (PHDA 01), what type of analysis is used in certain situations (PHDA 02), and considerations when doing spatial analysis (PHDA 04) are immensely important as well. I enrolled, but withdrew from PHDA 06. I didn’t find the content interesting and it was an already busy semester for me, so this was a good decision.

Along with a colleague, I have applied for and received a grant to do a small project using Statistics Canada data through one of their RDCs. I am sure that completion of this program helped our application to be successful. I will be using many skills from PHDA 01 (metadata, manipulation of variables, SAS analysis) and PHDA 02 (which statistics are best for the analysis, what to do with missing data) in this project.

For a program that is delivered completely online, each course was organized and delivered very well. Most of the instructors were very quick with their replies to questions from students. All of the courses used practical examples to explain the material which I found really helpful for understanding how to apply the concepts in practice. In the Working with Administrative Data (PHDA 01) course, the instructors were extremely helpful, and I found the 15 minute phone meeting near the start of the course really nice. It was so much easier to go through several questions/concerns at once on the phone with person rather than I think the highly trained, expert instructors, who are approachable and provide excellent feedback are a major strength. Certainly, the small class sizes allow for that individualized feedback and a continual dialogue with instructors in the discussion boards as well. I think Moodle is very easy to use, and in general, the courses were very well organized. The voice-over step-by-step videos were very useful when learning new things in ArcGIS (PHDA 03) and could have been useful when learning any of the software, really. When I needed it, the IT support was quick to respond and helpful. PopData BC staff were always very friendly, very professional, and pro-active. UVic registration was quick and easy, and library services simple to use.

Yes, I already have! I would recommend that students make sure they have 8-10 hours per week to spend on the class. I didn’t really believe that I would spend this much when I read it, and it’s not every week in every class, but there were certainly many weeks when I spent that much time. It’s not easy while working full-time, especially if you have no experience with the software packages, such as SAS or ArcGIS. But, it’s very rewarding!

I Iearned about the program through the UVic Continuing Studies website while I was an under grad at UVic. I later worked for the Provincial government. As a government employee I was eligible to get financial support for professional development training. The PHDA program was a good fit for the analytic skills I needed. I already had some experience working with Administrative data.

I found the courses I took, PHDA 01 Working with Administrative Data, PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics, PHDA 03 Population Health and GIS and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection, all followed in suite to cement my knowledge and skills in methods and research design. The first two courses, PHDA 01 and PHDA 02 were more of a review/refresher for me from my previous academic and work experience. The PHDA 01 course included learning SAS skills and creating your own study. The PHDA 02 course focused more on practical analytic work and less on statistical theory.  My favourite course was PHDA 04. It applied all the background/analytic skills I had learned within previous PHDA courses and taught me new geospatial skills.

My new skills would have proven useful in my previous role as a policy analyst for the provincial government, however I have switched positions. I intended on using my SAS skills and geospatial analysis tools to analyze the MSP data I had access to.

My new job is as a strategy analyst and the certificate has provided me knowledge about the potential use of administrative data to inform decision making. In completing this course, I have added another domain of knowledge which I can consider when developing strategic plans related to IM/IT.

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 useful 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.

Yes, I would definitely recommend this program to others.  For those just starting the program within the PHDA 01 course, I would recommend that they work carefully through the SAS components and try to keep their project work simple. It is also best to take one course at a time if you are working or taking full time studies.

I was browsing for some relevant programs that would complement my current job as an epidemiologist.  This one caught my eye (and I went to UVic in the past) – the courses looked good, particularly the GIS ones which I wanted to learn as it hadn’t been part of my education up to that point.

It was really good. The coursework was comprehensive but not too time consuming.  The GIS courses were fantastic and provided great information, and the other courses were also relevant to my work (the program evaluation course and the working with admin data course).

Yes – I signed up to learn GIS, and I have been able to use some of those skills in my job.

I liked the method of instruction – videos that walked you through the steps of an assignment accompanied by PDF’s, which I thought helped me learn efficiently.

Yes – in fact I have… I recommended this to colleague of mine at another health unit in Ontario who recently got hired as an Epidemiologist.  She hadn’t had much education in the area and was looking for good programs so I mentioned this one, and she signed up.

Great program overall – all very relevant to my profession.

I first heard about the PHDA program through the PopData e-news updates (i.e., regular emails sent through their listserv with various announcements). The courses seemed relevant to my work as a health services researcher, and the testimonials from previous students seemed positive and relatable. The fact that the PHDA program qualifies for CIHR funding as part of their Professional Advancement Award really motivated me to enroll in the program.

I enrolled in four courses, offered continuously between fall 2014 and September 2015. The courses I found to be of greatest benefit to me and my work were PHDA-01 (Working with Administrative Data) and PHDA-05 (Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modeling of Population Health Data). These courses provided practical skills that I find I apply regularly to my job, and made me much more comfortable with using data analytic programs like SAS. The other two courses I took (PHDA-02 Epidemiological Statistics and PHDA-03 GIS and Population Health) were both very interesting and informative. PHDA-02 provided me with a good statistical overview as it relates to the health sciences, and PHDA-03 introduced me to a completely new system for me – GIS – and taught me how I can supplement some of my research with consideration to health geography.

I have been able to use the skills learned about data management using SAS directly in my current research projects. I’ve been able to share some of the knowledge gained in the PHDA-05 course with colleagues who are working on projects that require analysis of longitudinal data.

I found a strength of the program to be the engagement of the other students, who are usually all from diverse backgrounds with varying levels of experience with the content. It was helpful to learn from each other. The course workload was also quite manageable for those who are working full-time. The teachers also all seemed knowledgeable and passionate about the topics, and were willing to help students answer their questions or provide assistance for the course projects.

I would recommend the program to others who are interested in building on their data analytic/ population health expertise. I would suggest budgeting in the time to read through the course materials and do the extra labs that are provided – it always takes longer than you think it will!

My MSc supervisor recommended them based on the learning goals I had for my Master’s degree. UBC doesn’t offer anything like it, so we needed to look for partner institutions.

I completed the PHDA 03 Population Health and GIS and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection courses. By taking these courses, I developed an understanding of how to overlay multiple sources of data onto a geographic region (from city, to country, to continent). I developed an understanding of questions to consider in how I represent this information to the audience, so that bias in how it is represented is minimized. 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.

As part of my thesis.

The labs and the access to the SRTL were the biggest strengths of these courses. The SRTL had all the software, and all the data, and was really easy to access, and was well maintained and organized. The SRTL and labs made the hands-on learning REALLY effective and stress free. The labs were applied, and had very tangible learning outcomes associated with them. They were practical in purpose, and effective in implementation via the SRTL. The labs were very smooth and impactful.

Yes. I would say that future students should explore the labs as much as possible. To really forefront the learning that you get out of that. The lecture material and prep material is abstract, but if you can focus most of your time on the labs, you can experiment and learn a lot.