Dr. Zelickson grew up in the Twin Cities. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1982 and the Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minnesota, in 1986. His post-graduate medical training included one year at the Hennepin County Medical Center and three years at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine. In 1990, he received special training in immunoelectron microscopy under a fellowship at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Zelickson is currently a member of the faculty at the University of Minnesota Medical School's Department of Dermatology. He is also director of that department's Electron Microscopy Laboratory. He has been repeatedly named one of the Twin Cities "Best Doctors" by Minneapolis/St. Paul Magazine.

Although he has extensive training in all aspects of dermatology, Dr. Zelickson's special medical interests include laser-tissue interaction and teledermatology. He is nationally recognized for his accomplishments and contributions to laser medicine and surgery. He has published more than 40 medical journal articles in the field and currently serves on the Government Liaison/Blue Ribbon Committee for the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery (ASLMS). He has also developed ASLMS course work that is used across the country to train other physicians in laser techniques.