Dr Sam Miles

Profile

Sam is a Reader in Medical Sociology and Medical Education at Barts and The London, part of Queen Mary University of London. As theme lead for Sociology, Sam delivers and develops the teaching of social sciences across the Medical School. He teaches medical students in London and Malta, as well as on the intercalated BSc in Medical Education and the MA in Education for Clinical Contexts. He holds Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

Sam leads Student Selected Components (SSCs) for MBBS Year 1 and Year 2. He leads Issues & Methodologies in Education Research for iBSc Medical Education and is London lead for the Human Sciences and Public Health (HSPH) module. He also teaches on Fundamentals of Medicine, Theory Behind Teaching & Learning, and Clinical Communication Skills modules. He is a problem-based learning (PBL) tutor for Fundamentals of Medicine, Human Sciences & Public Health, Brain & Behaviour and the intercalated BSc in Medical Education.

Sam specialises in qualitative research methods including ethnography, interviewing and focus groups, and runs workshops on qualitative data analysis including NVivo. He is a MedPro supervisor, academic advisor and Senior Tutor for MBBS students across all five years. He currently supervises PhD students in public health, with research including IVF and medical ethics, diabetes self-management, and chemsex and digital technology.

Sam joined QMUL from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, where he worked in the Faculty for Public Health & Policy. His research focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights, young people and community participation, as part of the DEPTH public health research group. Sam completed his 1+3 ESRC-funded Research Methods MRes and PhD in Human Geography at QMUL, with a doctoral thesis analysing mobile phone dating apps and MSM health and wellbeing. He holds a BA (Hons) and MA from University of Exeter.

Sam’s research spans sexual and reproductive health in complex environments (funded by UK Government), young people's experiences of sickle cell disease (funded by NIHR), and online life for young people and LGBTQ communities (funded by ESRC). With LSHTM colleagues he has conducted research into Covid-19 and NHS and public health services for Gypsy, Roma & Traveller communities and migrant workers (funded by UK Department of Health), as well as co-production and PPI iniatives in London NHS Health Services (funded by NIHR ARC).

Sam welcomes enquiries for iBSc, MA and PhD supervision in medical sociology, public health, digital technology, qualitative research, LGBTQ and queer health, and co-production/PPI.

Teaching

• London lead, Student Selected Components (SSCs) MBBS Year 1 and Year 2
• London lead, Human Sciences and Public Health (MBBS)
• Lead, Issues & Methodologies in Education Research
• Lecturer, Fundamentals of Medicine (MBBS); Year 1&2 SSC Induction (MBBS); Medical Education (iBSc); Education for Clinical Contexts (MA)
• PBL tutor, Fundamentals of Medicine; Brain & Behaviour; Human Sciences & Public Health (MBBS); Medical Education (iBSc)
• Tutor, Clinical Communication Skills, Years 1-3 (MBBS)
• Workshops on ethnography, interviewing, focus groups, qualitative data analysis & NVivo

Research

Research Interests:

Sam’s research interests include public health, LGBTQ+ health, sexual and reproductive health, digital technologies, young people’s health and wellbeing, PPI and co-production, higher education, and qualitative research. His work is available on Google Scholar and ResearchGate.

Sam is currently researching LGBTQ+ health teaching in medical school curricula, pronoun use in NHS sexual health clinics, and intercalated degree take-up in MBBS courses. Hear more in his Spotify podcast for ‘Thinking In Between’.

Publications

Nicholls EJ, McGowan CR, Miles S, et al. Provision of cervical screening for transmasculine patients: a review of clinical and programmatic guidelines. BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjsrh-2022-201526

R Chingono, C Kasese, S Miles, J Busza (2022). ‘I was in need of somewhere to release my hurt:’ Addressing the mental health of vulnerable adolescent mothers in Harare, Zimbabwe, through self-help groups. Global Health Action, 15 (1), 2040151 https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2022.2040151

S Miles, A Renedo, C Marston (2021). Reimagining authorship guidelines to promote equity in co-produced academic collaborations. Global Public Health, 1-13 https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2021.1971277

S Miles (2021). Let’s (not) go outside: Grindr, hybrid space, and digital queer neighborhoods. The life and afterlife of gay neighborhoods, 203-220 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66073-4_9

S Miles, J Coffin, A Ghaziani, DB Hess, A Bitterman (2021). After/lives: insights from the COVID-19 pandemic for gay neighborhoods. The life and afterlife of gay neighborhoods: renaissance and resurgence, 393-418 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66073-4_17

R Koch, S Miles (2021). Inviting the stranger in: Intimacy, digital technology and new geographies of encounter. Progress in Human Geography, 45 (6), 1379-1401 https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132520961881

A Renedo, S Miles, S Chakravorty, A Leigh, J Warner, C Marston (2021). Understanding the health-care experiences of people with sickle cell disorder transitioning from paediatric to adult services: This Sickle Cell Life, a longitudinal qualitative study. NIHR Journals Library, National Institute of Health Research (NIHR UK) https://europepmc.org/article/nbk/nbk564442

S Miles (2020). “I've never told anyone this before”: Co‐constructing intimacy in sex and sexualities research. Area, 52 (1), 73-80 https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12550

S Miles, A Renedo, C Augustine, P Ojeer, N Willis, C Marston (2020). Obstacles to use of patient expertise to improve care: a co-produced longitudinal study of the experiences of young people with sickle cell disease in non-specialist hospital settings. Critical Public Health, 30 (5), 544-554 https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2019.1650893

C Marston, A Renedo, S Miles (2020). Community participation is crucial in a pandemic. The Lancet, 395 (10238), 1676-1678 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31054-0

A Renedo, S Miles, C Marston (2020). Transitions to adulthood: self‐governance and disciplining in the making of patient citizens. Sociology of Health & Illness, 42 (3), 481-495 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.13019

Supervision

Dexu Huang, ‘Between Autonomy and Relational Autonomy: The role of Chinese parents in Influencing  the Reproductive Decisions of their Highly Educated Children’

Jane Thomas (Ikunna), ‘Optimising Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Among Minority Ethnic Adults Aged 40+ in the UK: A Qualitative Study Exploring the Role of Technology, Socio-Cultural Factors, and Inequality in Healthcare’

Clyne Hamilton-Daniels, ‘Digital Platforms and Sexualised Drug Use (Chemsex): Exploring Their Role in Shaping Behaviours, Risk Perceptions, Community Norms, and Implications for Physical and Mental Health Public Health Policy’