He received his MD from Indiana University and a master’s degree in public health at the University of Minnesota. He completed his internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at Rush University Medical Center. Melson's clinic practice focuses on colorectal cancer, hereditary gastrointestinal syndromes, and endoscopic quality measures and screening. His research focus is on gastrointestinal cancers, including management and risk assessment in hereditary gastrointestinal cancers and cancer prevention.​