Dr. Peitzman is the Mark M. Ravitch Professor of Surgery and vice chairman at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He also serves as chief of the Division of General Surgery. Dr. Peitzman attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and completed his residency there. During that time, he spent two years in basic science research at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center.

Dr. Peitzman is the current executive director of the Panamerican Trauma Society. He is current president of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma. Dr. Peitzman has 130 peer-reviewed publications, and 76 book chapters. He has written five books, including The Trauma Manual, in its third edition.