PHDA testimonials

"I would recommend this program to anyone working in the public health field that is handling or interpreting data and looking to update or acquire new skills. The courses were of high quality, good value and appropriate for anyone at the introductory or intermediate level.

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. Even though the courses required a bit more work and time commitment than I initially planned for, I felt each of them challenged me and taught me new concepts and skills that I can take away and use immediately in my work."

> read full testimonial

"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."

> read full testimonial

"I would like to recommend PHDA courses to others. I believe the program is very practical and useful to those working in the public health field. It provides a good opportunity for the development of a future career plan.

I learned how to use several popular software programs such as SAS, R, ArcGIS and Mplus. All of them are very helpful. The PHDA 06 course about Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation helped me evaluate my work program. "

> read full testimonial

"I would highly recommend this program to anyone wishing to gain a strong foundation in GIS and data, even those individuals not directly involved in the population health field. All of the courses force the student to think critically, develop time management skills, become effective data organizers, and learn to work in a virtual team towards a common goal within very tight parameters. I found all staff related to the various components of the program very knowledgeable and considerate."

> read full testimonial

"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 the Moodle course site is very easy to use, and in general, the courses were very well organized.

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."

> read full testimonial