After spending his youth in both the St Louis and Detroit areas he earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in Chemical Engineering. Dr. Guffey then completed his medical degree at Wayne State University. He learned Anesthesiology at Emory University Hospital and specialized in regional anesthesia and acute pain at the University of Pittsburgh. He has been a part of the Washington University faculty at Barnes Jewish Hospital since 2013. In 2017 he became associate fellowship director for the regional anesthesia and acute pain fellowship at Washington University.