Sampson Davis
Dr. Sampson Davis is an emergency medicine physician and bestselling author sharing unforgettable lessons on discipline, purpose, and resilience.
Why book Sampson Davis for your next event
- Dr. Sampson Davis delivers authentic, high-impact keynotes rooted in real-life experiences from the ER, education, and underserved communities.
- His story proves what dedication, determination, and discipline can unlock, motivating audiences to raise standards and take ownership of success.
- With national media recognition and decades on stage, Sampson Davis connects across generations with clarity, credibility, and purpose.
Non-binding request for Sampson Davis
Emergency Medicine Physician, Bestselling Author & Inspirational Keynote Speaker
Raised as the fifth of six children in Newark, New Jersey, Dr. Sampson Davis grew up surrounded by poverty, crime, and limited opportunity. He learned early how to balance academic excellence with street-level awareness, a combination he credits as vital to survival. Alongside two high school friends, he made a bold promise to become a doctor. That promise became reality. Today, Sampson Davis is a board-certified emergency medicine physician, New York Times bestselling author, and one of the most sought-after keynote speakers in the country. His talks are direct, inspiring, and deeply human, challenging audiences to see education, discipline, and purpose as powerful tools for lasting change.
Sampson Davis – From Newark to the ER
Dr. Sampson Davis was raised in Newark, one of New Jersey’s poorest cities, in cramped living conditions shaped by fragmented families, drugs, and crime. Despite these challenges, he excelled academically while maintaining social credibility on the streets. This balance, he explains, was essential to navigating his environment and staying focused on a larger vision.
While attending University High School in Newark, Sampson Davis met Rameck Hunt and George Jenkins. The three friends made a pact to become doctors. Against overwhelming odds, each fulfilled that promise. Today, Dr. Davis is a board-certified emergency medicine physician practicing in multiple New Jersey hospitals and serving as medical director for urgent care centers and substance abuse facilities across the country.
Book Sampson Davis for Your Event
When organizations book Sampson Davis for a keynote, they receive more than inspiration. They receive lived experience, credibility, and clear direction. His presentations combine storytelling from the front lines of emergency medicine with lessons on accountability, preparation, and mindset. He challenges audiences to glorify education, to treat learning with pride, and to understand that success is built through consistent effort.
Dr. Davis is known for his “3 Ds” philosophy: Dedication, Determination, and Discipline. These principles are woven into every keynote, leaving audiences with practical takeaways they can apply immediately in their personal and professional lives.
Author, Thought Leader, and National Voice
Dr. Sampson Davis is a New York Times bestselling author and co-author of The Pact, We Beat the Street, and The Bond. In 2013, he released Living and Dying in Brick City – An ER Doctor Returns Home, a powerful account of his work in the emergency room, offering unfiltered insight into life-and-death medical decisions and the importance of prevention and community health.
In 2018, he co-authored The STUFF: Unlock Your Power to Overcome Challenges, Soar, and Succeed with Sharlee Jeter. The book introduces 11 core elements designed to help individuals maximize their potential, drawing on inspiring stories of everyday people who overcame life-defining obstacles. Dr. Davis believes mastering these elements allows anyone to live their best STUFF.
Media Recognition and Honors
Dr. Davis has appeared on numerous national television and radio platforms, including Oprah, Dr. Oz, The Today Show, The View, CBS This Morning, PBS News Hour, Anderson Cooper 360, and NPR. His work has been featured in People, O Magazine, Reader’s Digest, The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Parade, and Black Enterprise.
Oprah Winfrey named him “One of the Premiere Role Models of the World.” He received the Essence Lifetime Achievement Award and was named one of their forty most inspirational African Americans. Dr. Davis is the youngest physician to receive the National Medical Association’s highest honor, the Scroll of Merit, and was recognized at the BET Awards. In 2021, he was named Seton Hall University Alumnus of the Year.
Education, Service, and Lasting Impact
Graduating with honors, Dr. Sampson Davis earned his bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall University, his medical degree from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and completed his emergency medicine residency at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, the same hospital where he was born.
Committed to giving back, Dr. Davis co-founded The Three Doctors Foundation with his two childhood friends during his residency. Built on the principles of health, education, leadership, and mentoring, the foundation delivers free public programs to communities throughout the year.
Today, Sampson Davis continues to practice medicine while traveling nationwide as a keynote speaker. His mission is clear: to make education aspirational, to provide a concrete example of what is possible, and to empower individuals to rise, regardless of where they begin.
Keynotes
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
Know Who You Are and Always Give Back
Regardless of life circumstances, Dr. Sampson Davis believes wholeheartedly we all have something to give. Everything from paying a kind word on an elevator ride to saying good morning to a stranger, we have something to offer. This process of giving back not only impacts the person receiving the gift but also allows you, as the giver, to feel good about yourself, about life. It is vital to give back. It is one of life’s most precious gifts that often goes unused because so many of us don’t give it an opportunity. In the process of helping someone else, you may change your own life in redefining your purpose. Further, Dr. Davis believes it is important to know who you are as an individual. Believe in yourself and stand firm in defining yourself. Not everyone will embrace who you are and that is okay. We call such individuals “haters” and they are extremely successful at their job of hating. So allow haters to hate while you, as a “believer,” believes.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
Brick City
In this motivational speech, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks about growing up in one of New Jersey’s poorest cities, and his journey toward becoming an emergency medicine physician. With stories shared from his latest book, Living and Dying in Brick City, Dr. Davis explains how his city earned its nickname, Brick City. It is the grit and toughness of Newark that allows such a moniker to be born. His story is an inspiring one filled with dramatic details and anecdotes.
He also explains how these issues complicate healthy life options that are further strained by an undersupply of health care providers and facilities.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
Your Health Matters
As a practicing ER physician, Dr. Sampson Davis focuses on steps needed so one doesn’t land in the ER. He speaks candidly about health issues plaguing our communities and addresses firsthand the preventative measures required to defeat diabetes, obesity, hypertension, cancer, prescription drug abuse, heart disease and much more. His speech embodies the philosophy, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Dr. Davis has chronicled these important health issues in his book Living and Dying in Brick City. He addresses ailments ranging from common medical issues to the most life-threatening circumstances. Here are some examples:
- How to I avoid the common cold?
- How do you treat the flu? Should I get the flu shot?
- Should I vaccinate my children?
- How do I know if I’m having a heart attack?
- How can I recognize an addiction? Where do I find help? How do I tell my family?
- What is depression? Is there a stigma? Why is it important to seek medical help?
- When should I have a mammogram, a colonoscopy, a heart stress test and a check-up?
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
The Pact
Success - what does it look like? How does one achieve it? Dr. Sampson Davis speaks adamantly about success. The first necessary step is to seek out like-minded friends to form a pact. When pursuing a goal, it is vital to have a team approach. This solidarity helps to drive you and keep one motivated especially during moments where you want to give up. We all need a muse. Show me a successful person and I will show you his successful circle. The pact approach is what saved Dr. Davis’ life, when he and his two friends made a promise to each other to become doctors. This oath pushed him beyond his conceivable limits. He never realized he could reach such heights but knowing he was going to be held accountable served as motivation. Simply, he didn’t want to disappoint his two friends. If we are able to form pacts across the country towards a common goal, then we can begin to achieve insurmountable success. His story of overcoming unfathomable odds is chronicled in his New York Times best seller The Pact.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
The Power of Education—Investing in Your Most Precious Commodity
As the first member in his family to attend college, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks candidly about how education saved his life. Aiming to become “the Michael Jordan of education,” Dr. Davis inspires high school, college and graduate students alike to remain steadfast in their pursuit of academics. Referencing stories from his best-selling books The Pact, The Bond and We Beat the Street, Dr. Davis will inspire all students in their pursuit of academic achievement. His blueprint toward higher education has served as a resource for community-wide reads, grammar school and high school assemblies, college first year experience lectures, college-themed talks and commencement speeches.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
Making the Case for the Affordable Care Act (ACA): An ER Doctor’s Perspective
Through riveting personal and medical stories, Dr. Sampson Davis provides a never-before-seen look at health care in America, presenting not only the issues but also the complicated lives behind the statistics. Dr. Davis also looks at the ACA - how it may draw more doctors and nurses to return to abandoned areas of America, while technical barriers keep many patients form even signing up. Dr. Davis shares stories about the health care industry and how it personally affected his family. His father, diagnosed with prostate cancer and Alzheimer’s, turned to him to guide him through the stages of the health care system.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
I Have a Dream
Dr. Sampson Davis strongly believes we all have a dream. But what happens when the dream is interrupted or comes to a halt. How does one bounce back? How does one believe it is possible to achieve the unimaginable? In this speech, Dr. Davis will inspire all to remain vigilant in the pursuit of their dreams. Giving up is not an option. Work with what you have in place and believe you can make it happen. Dr. Davis will share his obstacles and pitfalls and how he never allowed his dream to be deferred even when faced with sure defeat. He will share the struggles he faced along the way. A college professor once told him to switch majors and that he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He dealt with personal tragedies in his family, from addiction to watching his sister lose her life to a health battle. Dr. Davis remained firm in knowing he could achieve success and it was his sister’s fight for life that inspired him to keep pushing.
Keynote by Sampson Davis:
The Sports Scholar
It this speech, Dr. Sampson Davis speaks about the importance of staying active. You must always keep moving. In life, aim to never retire; rather, switch gears into another pursuit of passion. As a teenager, Dr. Davis played high school baseball and even had visions of a professional sports career. It was the adrenaline of sports that helped his academics. The energy and excitement after exercising or taking part in sports-related activities release happy hormones from the brain known as endorphins. It is the body endorphins that helped drive Dr. Davis in his academics by allowing him to focus and push through long hours of studying. It is important to have balance in life. Playing sports and exercising is fun; not only do you gain the benefit of exercising from a healthy view point but the activity also spills over into other sectors of life. In this case, sports enabled Dr. Davis to focus more on his academics. Sports also kept him busy during tempting days of growing up on the streets of Newark. Never want a youth or an adult to sit idle.
Dr. Sampson Davis Reel
Watch Sampson Davis in action!
