"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 testimonials
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection
"The courses that provided me the greatest benefit included the Population Health and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection.
Using the GIS and SAS skills that I learned from the PHDA program, I was able to create a Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) layer using GIS software, which showed peak greenness for the entire country over a ten-year period. Using this data and other administrative databases a team of researchers led by Dr. Dan Crouse and myself, conducted a research study that looked at how living by residential greenspace can impact longevity."
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll in the PHDA course(s) you chose?
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I learned about the program through emails from PopDataBC. I have been following PopDataBC since the organization was introduced to me during my MPH degree at UBC. I was motivated to enroll in the PHDA courses that I chose, because I was not offered the opportunity to take such courses during my MPH. I had a lot of background in epidemiological and statistical theory, with some coding experience introduced through my statistics courses, but not as much practical application of the theory as I would have liked or that I needed for my job.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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The courses I have taken so far are Population Health and GIS (PHDA03) and Spatial Epidemiology (PHDA04). Both have made me confident working in ArcGIS, and applying principles of GIS/mapping to population health data and working on spatial analyses. In particular, what has been most helpful about these courses is applying the background theory to surveillance and research questions and walking through the analysis from start to finish, including interpretation of results.
- How do you plan to apply your new skills in your work/research?
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There are two areas that I hope to apply these skills in my work: one is improved visualization of population health data where a geographic component is present and relevant, and another is utilizing methodologies where unstable rates can be smoothed by drawing from the rates of neighbouring geographic areas. Where I work, small numbers are consistently an issue in producing stable and comparable rates.
- What do you think were the strengths of the course(s) you completed? Please provide examples.
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Strengths included hands-on application of concepts (through the labs), responsive and supportive instructors, and reading materials that helped with learning the concepts. For example, the final projects allowed us to develop a practical research question, clean and analyze the required datasets, produce maps and analyses, and interpret results, which would mirror a typical project in the workplace.
- Would you recommend PHDA courses to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in completing these courses?
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Yes, I would definitely recommend PHDA courses to others. I would suggest ensuring there is ample time outside of your regular job to complete the coursework, as I found the readings were quite time consuming (although very interesting).
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 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.
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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