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 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation

"I found the PHDA 06 was one of the most practical PHDA courses. I was able to apply the skills that I was learning to a program evaluation that I was leading within the Infection and Control Department at Interior Health Authority. Being able to directly apply the knowledge I was gaining in the course made an amazing difference to my skill development. Overall, it was a great learning experience and really provided valuable overarching guidance to my work. It supported my work in finalizing a questionnaire for stakeholders and reporting findings to Interior Health."

> read full testimonial

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!

PHDA Overall program/course experience

"I would recommend the program to working professionals, researchers, and graduate students.

The program had many strengths including: excellent, experienced instructors for each of the courses; use of fellow students as peers to give feedback on assignments (this was a particular strength of the PHDA06 course in Health Evaluation and Program Monitoring); and discussion forums that promoted exchange of information amongst students using real life examples".

> read full testimonial

PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographical Information Systems

"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."

> read full testimonial

PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation

"For my current job role, PHDA 06 evaluation course reinforced work planning, stakeholder engagement planning, and reporting planning skills -- their corresponding activities are prevalent at my job."

> read full testimonial

Search

PHDA testimonials

Sign up for e-news and keep up to date with what's new at PopData, including the latest on data access, data available and upcoming events.