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Alex Lickerman M.D.

About

Alex Lickerman, M.D., is the author of The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self. He's a general internist, former director of primary care, and former assistant vice president for Student Health and Counseling Services at the University of Chicago. Currently, he's the founder and CEO of a direct primary care medical practice in downtown Chicago called ImagineMD.

Alex has had extensive experience treating the sickest of the sick in the most compassionate manner possible at an internationally renowned academic medical center located in the heart of one of the poorest neighborhoods in Chicago.

Alex's first book, The Undefeated Mind: On the Science of Constructing an Indestructible Self, published in 2012, has received numerous favorable reviews from many sources, including Publishers Weekly. His second book, The Ten Worlds: The New Psychology of Happiness, offers a new paradigm for achieving happiness that endures no matter what.

Alex has extensive speaking experience, having given talks at medical conferences throughout his career including a talk to an audience of over 3,000 at a Pri-Med Conference put on jointly by the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

Alex has been quoted in Crain's Chicago Business, The Chicago Tribune, Men's Health, The New York Times, and TIME, and has had articles appear in Psychology Today, Crain's Chicago Business, USA Today, Slate, The Huffington Post, Counselor Magazine, and Medicine on the Midway. He's also been a guest on NPR's On Point. He's also written a television pilot called Sessions that was optioned by DreamWorks Television, as well as several movie screenplays, including an adaptation of Milton's Paradise Lost.

Books by Alex Lickerman M.D.
Recent Posts
The New Psychology of Happiness
Happiness is something we all want, yet many of us fail to achieve. Look around: How many people do you know who exude joy on a daily basis?
Using Denial Effectively
A number of years ago, a patient of mine was diagnosed with lung cancer. A metastatic work up revealed a small mass in his liver that had a benign radiographic appearance.
Too Much Medical Care
Not long ago, one of my elderly patients (who gave me permission to tell this story) began requiring blood transfusions for a condition known as ischemic colitis.
The Problem with Obstacles

I recently wanted to prescribe a medication called Prevacid for a patient. It's a proton pump inhibitor that shuts off acid production in the stomach.

I recently wanted to prescribe a medication called Prevacid for a patient. It's a proton pump inhibitor that shuts off acid production in the stomach.

The Caregiver's Manifesto

How many patients have I known over the years who've found themselves caught in the quicksand that is caring for a chronically ill loved one? Too many to count, so I'll recount

How many patients have I known over the years who've found themselves caught in the quicksand that is caring for a chronically ill loved one? Too many to count, so I'll recount

Finding Balance

Every once in a while (or perhaps more frequently than I’d like to admit) I find myself overwhelmed by my own life. Taking care of patients, blogging, writing,

Every once in a while (or perhaps more frequently than I’d like to admit) I find myself overwhelmed by my own life. Taking care of patients, blogging, writing,

Saving Primary Care

The healthcare landscape in the U.S. seems to have changed more rapidly in the last two years than it has in the last two decades. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has mandated health insurance for all Americans and made it possible for approximately 30 million more of them to obtain it. While this is a welcome development, it poses a significant problem.

The healthcare landscape in the U.S. seems to have changed more rapidly in the last two years than it has in the last two decades. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has mandated health insurance for all Americans and made it possible for approximately 30 million more of them to obtain it. While this is a welcome development, it poses a significant problem.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and You

Despite the public controversy over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in the scientific community the controversy is considered misplaced. The National Academy of Sciences has reviewed the safety of GMOs twice, once in 2000 and again in 2004. Both reviews concluded that genetically modified crops pose no threat to human health

Despite the public controversy over the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), in the scientific community the controversy is considered misplaced. The National Academy of Sciences has reviewed the safety of GMOs twice, once in 2000 and again in 2004. Both reviews concluded that genetically modified crops pose no threat to human health

At the End of Life

When I was a third-year medical student rotating for the first time on a general medicine service inpatient ward, my team admitted a thirty-year-old woman in acute congestive heart failure. That a thirty-year-old was in congestive heart failure was unusual enough. Even more shocking was the cause: an echocardiogram revealed a tumor sitting on top of her mitral valve

When I was a third-year medical student rotating for the first time on a general medicine service inpatient ward, my team admitted a thirty-year-old woman in acute congestive heart failure. That a thirty-year-old was in congestive heart failure was unusual enough. Even more shocking was the cause: an echocardiogram revealed a tumor sitting on top of her mitral valve