Dr. Rebecca Volpe's primary research agenda is around the process of professional identity formation for medical students. She is especially interested in this socialization into medical culture with regard to students who are underrepresented in medicine. Dr. Volpe is also involved in an admissions research project, where the long term goal is to support the successful matriculation of more underrepresented in medicine applicants. Dr. Volpe is involved in other medical education projects, including work on the relationship between the arts and medical student burnout, undergraduate medical education curriculum development and more.

Dr. Rebecca Volpe serves as the Director of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

Dr. Rebecca Volpe is the recipient of numerous excellence in teaching awards and current serves as Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Humanities. Her areas of teaching expertise are medical ethics, professionalism and clinical ethics. Her students are primarily undergraduate medical students in required preclinical coursework, however she also teaches practicing providers in the medical center including faculty, residents, nurses and others. Dr. Volpe consults both internally and externally on practical strategies for developing effective ethics and humanities education.