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

"Overall, the PHDA 03 course experience was great. The greatest benefit to me was learning about GIS and practicing the learning through lab assignments with ArcGIS."

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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."

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PHDA full testimonial

How did you learn about the program and what motivated you to enroll?: 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.
Tell us about your course experience. What skills did you develop and which courses provided the greatest benefit to you?: 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.
How have you been able to (or how do you plan to) apply your new skills in your work/research?: 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.
What do you think were the strengths of this program? Please provide examples.: 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.
Would you recommend this program to others? If so, what recommendations/suggestions would you give those interested in applying to this program?: 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.

PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection

"Courses which benefited me the most are PHDA 03 Population Health and Geographic Information System (GIS) and PHDA 04 Spatial Epidemiology and Outbreak Detection.

I am really satisfied with these courses especially the hands-on experience gained while using ArcMap to map diseases and assess spatial dependences. Skills developed include generating choropleth map, joining attribute tables to shapefile and perform geographically weighted regressions."

PHDA Overall program/course experience

"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."

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PHDA testimonials

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