Dr. Selbst graduated from Temple University School of Medicine.  He trained in Pediatrics and was Chief Resident at Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, NYC.  He then joined the Emergency Department at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where he worked for 15 years and served as ED Director for several years. Dr. Selbst is currently Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.  Until recently, he was the Director of the Pediatric Residency Program at Sidney Kimmel Medical College/Nemours Children’s Hospital, DE for 24 years and the Director of Graduate Medical Education.  He was an attending physician in the Emergency Department at the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, DE.  Dr. Selbst recently retired and continues teaching at Sidney Kimmel Medical College.

Dr. Selbst has authored close to 350 research papers, book chapters and review articles. His research in the field of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has focused primarily on injury epidemiology, chest pain, acute pain and legal issues in pediatric emergency medicine. Dr. Selbst is the author of the textbook Preventing Malpractice Lawsuits in Pediatric Emergency Medicine (ACEP) and editor of several textbooks including Pediatric Emergency Medicine Secrets (Elsevier). He serves on the Editorial Boards of Pediatric Emergency Care and Contemporary Pediatrics.

Dr. Selbst is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Emergency Physicians.   Dr. Selbst has served on the Sub-Board of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, American Board of Pediatrics and the Board of Directors of the Pediatric Academic Societies.  He is Past-President of the Academic Pediatric Association.  Dr. Selbst is Past- Chair of the AAP Section on Emergency Medicine. He has served on the AAP Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the Committee on Medical Liability and the Planning Group for the AAP National Conference and Exhibition. 

Dr. Selbst remains passionate about teaching.  He has taught numerous residents, fellows and medical students from Sidney Kimmel Medical College and elsewhere, and he has lectured all over the world.  Dr. Selbst has won several awards, including the Steve Miller Award for Excellence in Education and Mentorship (AAP 2014), the Jim Seidel Distinguished Service Award in Pediatric Emergency Medicine (AAP 2023) and the Career Educator Award (Sidney Kimmel Medical College 2022).