Mark Peters ’87

Patients First: In an EMSOP course, listening is key to patient advocacy 

When Mark Peters was 11 years old, he lost his mother to cancer. Beyond his profound sense of loss, he remembers “the challenges Dad and Mom faced and the extreme generosity of our local pharmacist and community.”

“That’s why I’ve devoted my career to helping cancer patients and their families,” says Peters ’87, who serves as Senior Director of Patient Advocacy and Professional Relations at Genmab.

Focusing on gathering patient insights is now more critical than ever to bringing new medicines to patients, says Peters, who is also Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor, Pharmacy Practice & Administration at EMSOP. To instill that outlook in future pharmacists, he has created and co-teaches a unique course at EMSOP called Patient Advocacy and Health Policy.

The objective of the course is to help students better understand how healthcare professionals, patient organizations and policymakers come together to impact patientcare. “Today, collaboration is critical to help patients and care partners due to the ever-growing demands on healthcare professionals’ time,” Peters says. “For some students, this is the first class completely focused on understanding and improving the patient’s experience within the broader context of the U.S. healthcare system.

A unique aspect of the course is the participation of patients themselves in the final exam. This past fall, two patients described the positives and challenges they experienced from diagnosis to treatment and beyond. “The students’ listening skills are tested for the first hour, and then they answer questions regarding the patient’s experience,” Peters says. The students are evaluated on their ability to assimilate and apply the knowledge from the class to develop individualized approaches to patients’ unmet needs.

“Listening is an important skill for all healthcare professionals to develop and refine,” says Peters, adding that he has seen too many patients suffer from missed or delayed diagnoses.

Sharp listening is also paramount in helping patients navigate today’s tangle of hospitals, pharmacies, insurance companies, and government and policy agencies. Students in Peters’ course acquire a working knowledge of that system, including patient organizations and groups that can offer psychological, financial and social support to patients and families.

As front-line providers, pharmacists are particularly well-positioned to listen to, educate and advocate for patients — especially at inflection points when policies may change, such as when a new president takes office. This year, for example pharmacists are educating patients about a new federal law that caps out-of-pocket prescription costs at $2,000 per year.

Enrollment in Patient Advocacy and Health Policy has grown steadily over five years, with Peters co-teaching with Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, Chair, Board of Councilors, Mann School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California.

“Affecting even one patient’s life is meaningful,” says Peters, who is earning a master’s degree in public health at Rutgers. “If we can affect 20 students who then affect 20 more lives, we begin to improve the lives of more patients and care partners — and isn’t that what it’s all about?”

From the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy Annual Alumni Magazine 2025