As a clinician, Dr. Sampson enjoys seeing that patients who have had a life-threatening disease are now living normal, healthy lives. His practice focuses on the treatment of brain cancer, either newly diagnosed, recurrent primary, or metastatic brain tumors. In 2015, Dr. Sampson was appointed the inaugural chair of the Duke University Department of Neurosurgery, when the department was elevated from a division to department status. In 2020, Dr. Sampson assumed the role of President of the Private Diagnostic Clinic (PDC). The PDC is the physician practice of Duke Health, with 1,850 physicians and additional provider members practicing in Duke University hospitals and more than 140 primary and specialty clinics across North Carolina. Dr. Sampson still maintains his research lab and clinical practice.