Peter was born in Boston, Massachusetts and received an M.D. degree from the Boston University School of Medicine. His general surgery training was conducted at the Deaconess–Harvard Surgical Service in Boston. This included a 1-year research fellowship at Lahey Clinic. His clinical fellowship in colon and rectal surgery was also performed at the Lahey Hitchcock Clinic, and this was followed by a 1-year Pelvic Floor Research Fellowship at Lahey. He then joined the colon and rectal surgery staff at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. After 2 years at Cleveland, Peter returned to the Colon and Rectal Surgery Department at Lahey. He is board certified in General Surgery and Colon and Rectal Surgery.