"Epidemiological Statistics was a great refresher for advanced statistics using sample data sets and applied examples. It was a very useful and informative course."
PHDA testimonials
PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics
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 PHDA program through researching continuing education certificates focused on population-level health administrative analysis. I was motivated to do so as I am particularly interested in health services research during the end-of-life phase.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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Overall, I had a positive program experience. I greatly appreciated the asynchronous format as it allowed me to develop my skills without risking my other professional commitments. I found PHDA05 (Longitudinal Analysis and Multi-level Modelling of Population Health Data) to be the most rewarding as it exposed me to higher level quantitative analyses. In addition, I found PHDA03 (Population Health and Geographic Information Systems) very interesting as it provided applicable GIS uses for health services research.
- How do you plan to apply your new skills in your work/research?
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I believe the skills I have learned through this program will be directly relevant to my current research interests. Also, 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.
- What do you think were the strengths of the course(s) you completed? Please provide examples.
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The collaborative activities throughout the various courses were greatly appreciated, despite the asynchronous format!
- 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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Absolutely – the PHDA program is a great program for anyone who is interested in further exploring population-level analyses. For prospective students, I recommend honing on your SAS skills prior to program completion. While not necessary, having prior experience using SAS is beneficial to successfully completing courses.
- Any additional comments that you would like to add?
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Overall, my experience was largely positive. The instructors are very knowledgeable and accessible to students, and the program staff are always helpful!
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".
PHDA full testimonial
- How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?
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I was browsing for some relevant programs that would complement my current job as an epidemiologist. This one caught my eye (and I went to UVic in the past) – the courses looked good, particularly the GIS ones which I wanted to learn as it hadn’t been part of my education up to that point.
- Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?
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It was really good. The coursework was comprehensive but not too time consuming. The GIS courses were fantastic and provided great information, and the other courses were also relevant to my work (the program evaluation course and the working with admin data course).
- How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?
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Yes – I signed up to learn GIS, and I have been able to use some of those skills in my job.
- What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.
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I liked the method of instruction – videos that walked you through the steps of an assignment accompanied by PDF’s, which I thought helped me learn efficiently.
- 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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Yes – in fact I have… I recommended this to colleague of mine at another health unit in Ontario who recently got hired as an Epidemiologist. She hadn’t had much education in the area and was looking for good programs so I mentioned this one, and she signed up.
- Any additional comments you would like to add about the program or ways we can improve the educational experience?
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Great program overall – all very relevant to my profession.
PHDA Overall program/course experience
Overall, I had a positive program experience. I greatly appreciated the asynchronous format as it allowed me to develop my skills without risking my other professional commitments. I believe the skills I have learned through this program will be directly relevant to my current research interests. The PHDA program is a great program for anyone who is interested in further exploring population-level analyses."
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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