Dr Andrew Miles was born in Liverpool UK but emigrated to Perth, Western Australia with his family 2 years later where he was raised and ultimately became an Australian citizen. He was educated at a government school (Greenwood primary and Greenwood senior high schools) and studied medicine at the University of WA.
In January 1991, Andrew graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of WA and commenced working as a resident/registrar in teaching hospitals in Perth. Formal neurosurgical training accredited by the Royal Australian College of Surgeons was commenced in January 1995 and completed at the end of 1999. Andrew initially undertook neurosurgery training in Perth and then completed his final year of neurosurgery training at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne, a centre renowned nationally and internationally for the neurosurgical management of epilepsy. Andrew was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons in February 2000.
Andrew initially continued working as a consultant neurosurgeon at the Austin Hospital, furthering his training and experience in general neurosurgery, epilepsy surgery and spinal surgery before moving to Seattle USA to work as a neurosurgery fellow at the University of Washington. At the University of Washington, Andrew had the privilege of working with Dr George Ojemann, one of the world’s most renowned epilepsy neurosurgeons, further developing his training and experience in techniques such as awake craniotomies and functional brain mapping for epilepsy and brain tumour surgery. Also whilst at the University of Washington, Andrew worked with a number of internationally prominent neurosurgery and orthopaedic trained spinal surgeons undertaking training in complex spine surgery.
In 2002, Andrew returned to Perth, Western Australia to commence private practice in neurosurgery and spinal surgery. Until 2006 he was also the appointed epilepsy neurosurgeon for the Western Australia Comprehensive Epilepsy Service at Royal Perth Hospital. Currently, Andrew operates at St John of God Murdoch Hospital and Mount Hospital.
Since returning to Perth, Andrew has been at the forefront of complex spine surgery in WA, being involved in the introduction of a number of new and innovative spinal surgery technologies and techniques. In 2002 he was one of a small number of forward-thinking Australian neurosurgery and orthopaedic trained spinal surgeons who undertook the first Australian training course in cervical arthroplasty using the Bryan prosthesis led by the inventor of the device, US Neurosurgeon Dr Vincent Bryan. In 2003, Andrew attended Australia’s first training course in lumbar arthroplasty using the Prodisc-L prosthesis led by Prof Rudolph Bertagnoli, one of the world’s leading artificial disc replacement surgeons.
Andrew has continued to maintain and advance his interest and expertise in spinal motion preservation technologies as well as other complex spinal subspecialty areas such as minimally invasive/minimal-access spine surgery and surgery for sacroiliac joint disease. Most recently, Andrew was the primary driving force behind the introduction of intraoperative CT scan imaging with Airo CT linked to BrainLab Neuronavigation at SJOG (Subiaco) Hospital, the first hospital in Australia to utilise this technology. SJOG Hospital remains the Southeast Asian/Australian reference site for this technology and Andrew has regularly hosted spine surgeons from around the country interested in Airo Intraoperative CT and its application in neuronavigated complex spine surgical procedures such as minimal-access lumbar fusion and sacroiliac joint fusion.
Aside from his complex spine surgery practice, Andrew continues to utilise the skills and techniques he originally learnt while working with Dr George Ojemann in Seattle USA, in the management of patients with benign and malignant brain tumours.
In addition to being a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, Andrew is also a member of the Neurosurgery Society of Australasia, AOSpine and the International Society for Advancement Spine Surgery.
Outside of work, Andrew maintains a keen interest in photography, travel, ballet, music (1980s New Wave and New Romantic genres) and the appreciation of fine wine and whisky (particularly single malt Scotch but also Japanese and Australian varieties). He has 2 beautiful daughters who, above all else, are his greatest achievement.
