PHDA testimonials

I was looking for a professional development opportunity to brush up my data analysis skills and further develop them. I found about the program online through my own search. Reviewing the course offerings, I quickly thought the program would be a great fit for me.

All four courses I have taken offered different benefits. Epidemiological statistics was a great review with additional learnings. I appreciated gaining practical experience with tools I wasn’t previously familiar with – e.g. SAS and ArcGIS. Through Program Monitoring and Evaluation, I have gained a new skillset and understanding of evaluation that I can apply to my professional work.

As noted above, I have been able to apply tools I’ve learned from program evaluation to my current work, for our program evaluation. Although I haven’t directly applied other data analysis skills to my work yet, I hope to do so soon.

Great instructors with content expertise who are also very accessible for extra support, good class size with diverse classmates, and flexibility that the online learning offers.

Yes. If anyone is interested in one of the courses offered, I would encourage them to look into the certificate program as I think they would likely find other courses also interesting and valuable in strengthening population health data analysis skills. I would also emphasize that although online learning offers flexibility they would need to be able to set aside a chunk of time each week to successfully complete the course and make the most of it.

My postdoctoral supervisor suggested it to me – my PhD work was qualitative, and I’m interested in doing more mixed-methods and quantitative research using administrative data so it seemed like a good fit. The fact that it was online and I could take the courses at my own pace was an additional motivator.

I developed a number of skills, most importantly in working with administrative data and statistical analysis. The evaluation course was probably the most useful as it is something I’d like to incorporate into my future research much more.

I am currently planning an evaluation of a health program that will include using administrative data, so hopefully it will give me plenty of opportunity to use the skills I’ve developed.

The flexibility of timing due to the entirely online nature of the program stood out to me. I could work on things when I had the time, which I think is a great feature for people who are generally working full time. I also liked the mix of discussion and individual assignments in the courses; getting to hear others’ opinions and experiences was very useful.

Yes, I would recommend this program to others, although I would definitely suggest only taking one course at a time. Even working only part time, taking two courses at once was a bit much.

I was looking for more training after MPH degree and came across PopDataBC’s free training webinars first, including GIS. I wanted more hands-on experience with data analysis to keep skills sharp while looking for job, so I applied and enrolled in the certificate program. After I began the program I was hired by a non-profit organization. My supervisors were also supportive of my continued studies which was great.

The GIS courses, PHDA 03 Population Health and GIS and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection provided the greatest benefits. They were excellent and introduced brand new skills for me. Prior to taking these courses I had some brief exposure to GIS within my Master’s program and through the free online PopData courses. The PHDA 03 and PHDA 04 course labs were very detailed and instructional, offering good balance between theory and practice. The courses generally had enough materials I could take away to continue working independently.

The Working with Administrative data PHDA 01 course was also very good. I got to work directly with administrative data early in the program and had a chance to become more familiar with strengths and limitations of data that is collected.

The PHDA 01 and PHDA 02 Epidemiological Statistics course also used SAS software which was very helpful to keep my skills sharp.

The PHDA 05 Longitudinal Analysis and Multilevel Modeling course allowed me to learn new skills in multilevel analyses.

The PHDA 06 Health Services Program Monitoring and Evaluation course was a bit different as it did not have an SRTL lab component. I had taken a very similar course within my Master’s degree but it wasn’t as applied as the PHDA 06 course which had a very practical project component. I found the instructor’s experience and feedback as well as the peer review work really enabled me to get a lot out of the course evaluation project I completed.

Two major takeaways from GIS courses: 1. Thinking spatially – mapping service needs and approaches based on geographical, spatial, and ecological features, including planning promotional efforts, targeting underserved areas; 2. Concrete tools such as ArcMap and especially free programs such as QGIS and R – use in workplace with little organizational investment

I’m also developing some ideas to do research on mental health service utilization in primary health care, potentially as part of my work.

The Secure Research Training Lab (SRTL) was the best. It was a bit complicated to start with for the first time, but I quickly got used to logging on and working in the environment. It’s well worth the effort to be able to do hands-on work with data, with peer and instructor support, and very good technical support (the few times I needed it).

Another strength of the program is being able to work with motivated and knowledgeable peers, learn from one another through well-moderated forum discussions and collaboration. Having dedicated and clear instructors who are patient with distance ed/online format was also a major advantage. Although you are only required to take four courses to achieve the certificate, I took all six courses available.  I felt all courses were very positive experiences for me, with top notch students and teachers who were very engaged and supportive.

Yes, I have actually recommended the PHDA program to a few people. The population health data analysis certificate program is an excellent professional development opportunity for new analysts, public health professionals, and anyone with an interest in building on epidemiology and statistics basics. You will learn practical and marketable analysis skills through working directly with a variety of data sources including administrative, survey, and environmental datasets. I would highly recommend that individuals entering the program have their own research questions in mind or be open to exploring. You also need to be prepared to dig deep and manage your time so you can do the required work. The many hours you will spend in the SRTL will be well worth the effort!