PHDA testimonials

If you would like to specify which course(s) you would like to see testimonials for, you may do so by selecting the course(s) from the list below and hitting the APPLY filter button. You may select more than one course. Otherwise, the testimonials are listed below, in random order.
PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems
"The Population Health and GIS (PHDA 03) course was the most interesting course I took. The labs were easy to follow and I enjoyed the final project."

Jackson Flagg, Evaluation Lead

 

PHDA Overall program/course experience
"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."

Wendy de Gomez, Capital Planning Analyst, Waterloo Catholic District School Board

> read full testimonial

 

PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation
"I enjoyed the PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation course the most. Although I had taken an evaluation course in my Master’s program, I found the PHDA 06 course very good at clarifying information and dividing the evaluation process into very practical/applied steps/stages."

Navdeep Sandhu, Research Assistant, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

 

PHDA Overall program/course experience
"I feel this is a very unique program that combines the use of data analytics, statistical software and focused learning objectives related to the field of health. I also appreciated the fact that it was a fully online program with well-organized lectures, readings and remotely accessed lab work in health data analytics.

Overall the program was very helpful to my knowledge and skill development in the field of healthcare analytics. The program exceeded my expectations particularly because of the remotely accessed data analytic lab work that was more challenging than I anticipated. This work was very practical and very much oriented to real life case examples. The calibre of students in my courses was also very high as most were working professionals who brought valuable experience and knowledge to the discussion forums and project work."

Alexey Skiba, Data Analyst, College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia

 

PHDA full testimonial
How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

It was a really great experience and I learnt a great many new things so thank you!

 

Lucinda Burns

Lucinda Burns, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales