He consequently became the first Ghanaian to earn a master's degree in surgery. In 1961 he joined the staff of the medical unit of the University College Hospital as a house physician. In 1962 he moved to the surgical unit of the hospital to work as a house surgeon. In 1963 he was employed by the Watford Aid District Peace Memorial Hospital (now incorporated into Watford General Hospital), Hertfordshire to work as a senior house officer. He was also senior officer at the Leicester General Hospital and Royal Infirmary (now Leicester General Hospital), Leicester from 1963 to 1964. He served as the registrar of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire from 1966 to 1967. He returned to Ghana in 1967 and joined the teaching staff of the University of Ghana Medical School as a registrar and soon after as a lecturer in the department of surgery. He was elevated to senior lecturer status in 1972 after completing his post graduate studies in London. In 1976 he became an associate professor at the University of Ghana Medical School and also a fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He spent a year as a visiting professor in the department of surgery of the health sciences centre of the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada from 1980 to 1981 working in the area of Gastroenterology. Upon his return to Ghana in 1981, he was appointed head of the department of surgery. Three years later he was appointed Dean of the University of Ghana Medical School. In the field of surgery and medical education, Emmanuel has served on many national and international committees. He has served as an external examiner in several medical schools on the African continent. He also examined for the Royal College of Surgeons of England in Accra and in London. Emmanuel is a recipient of national honours in Ghana and Senegal. In 2006 he was a recipient of the Order of the Volta award. On 4 October 2015 he was awarded Honorary Fellowship in the American College of Surgeons. He together with five other surgeons from Australia, India, France, Argentina and Barbados were awarded at the October 4 Convocation. A citation was presented to him during the occasion and it read: "A Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in England and Edinburgh, Professor Archampong is a highly regarded clinician and clinical investigator, a consummate bedside teacher, and a mentor to generations of West African surgeons. He has, by his dedicated application and singular devotion, made significant contributions to the development of postgraduate medical education in West Africa in the areas of appropriate, affordable and accessible surgical practices, and in the acquisition of hands-on skills in surgical manpower development.