Next course delivery: September to December 2023
This course is now available to individuals residing outside of Canada. Please contact Program Coordinator, Ann Greenwood at scicoord@uvic.ca or 250-721-8627 for more information.
Course description
In this course, students will learn about:
- the geographic nature of population and public health
- how geographic data are incorporated into health research
- key considerations in spatial analysis
- the applications of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to health research and population and public health
Throughout the course, students will gain hands-on experience working with a wide range of spatial data and analysis methods using ArcGIS.
Learning objectives
- Identify the importance of the geographic nature of population health.
- Explain basic concepts of spatial data as they apply to health data and population health applications.
- Identify major uses of GIS in population health.
- Use GIS to map health data.
- Apply a number of spatial techniques to analyze health data.
- Critically interpret spatial approaches and methodology in population health.
Prerequisites
- Admission to the PSC in Population Health Data Analysis or permission of the Faculty Advisor.
- ArcGIS software will be introduced in this course. If you would like to start pre-course ArcGIS orientation before enrollment in this course, please contact Melissa Payne, PHDA Program Assistant, UVic Continuing Studies for further consultation at: artssci2@uvic.ca
Instructor: Joseph Syer
Joseph (Joey) Syer is a senior Geomatics Specialist at Hemmera, an Ausenco Company. Joey has over 10 years of experience in GIS and spatial analysis. He holds a BGIS from BCIT, is a registered GISP and a graduate of the PHDA program. To expand on these skills Joey is also studying epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Much of his time is split between the development of novel data analysis & data collection systems and exploring the uses of GIS technology in epidemiology & environmental science. Joey’s interests are in macro geographic processes, spatial epidemiology, ecology and disease transmission (One Health), and python programming.
This program has been developed by Population Data BC in partnership with the Division of Continuing Studies, University of Victoria.
For further details, visit the Division of Continuing Studies webpage.
