Med School Hopeful

[livevibrantly]

Hi- I've just joined the forum, and am hoping to get some help and advice from others in a similar position or who have overcome this position I've found myself in. Like everyone else on this particular sub-forum, I am a med school hopeful. I honestly attribute my curiosity with medicine to Grey's Anatomy, (despite the numerous inaccuracies and unrealistic scenarios they've presented).

Basically, I'm obsessed with the idea of a medical career and working in a hospital/private practice. The environment and experience of it all is incredibly enticing, and I honestly don't picture myself in any other work environment. My issue is that I am quite squeamish, and experienced a sophomore year slump I am having trouble recovering from.

I've yet to take my SAT/ACT, as these tests will be administered during my upcoming Junior year of high school- so, I have no clear indication of my college readiness scores... My GPA slipped this year, as two of my teachers decided to quit following a devastating, fatal incident at my school in early February; (I know I shouldn't blame their quitting for my grades getting screwed up, but we really weren't prepared for two weeks of substitute teachers showing up before we even knew our teachers had dropped everything and wouldn't be returning).

My unweighted GPA is currently a 3.265, which I am absolutely destroyed by seeing- I can't get it to budge, even after doing a lot better in my classes during the final quarter of our last semester).
My weighted GPA is a 3.901.
I am quite squeamish around gore, so I'm not entirely sure being a surgeon is the best medical career for me.


I'm sure this posit is incredibly confusing as I kind of 'brain vomited' all of my thoughts I've had to keep to myself about medical school- but I'm just looking for some advice on how to succeed in a medical education/career, and which specific medical career you would recommend for someone in my position.

Thanks a ton,
livevibrantly

*Edit: I forgot to mention that the medical careers I've currently been interested in include: trauma nursing, general pediatrics, and lastly somewhat of an 'ER Physician' role; (I'm not entirely sure of the specifics behind ER Physicians, or if they're even a thing, but from what I've researched, they stray away from performing surgery and allow trauma surgeons to take over that task).

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[AllBleedingStops]

Your GPA is not too low to get into college (especially with that weighted GPA) and that is all you need. Once undergrad schooling starts, GPA is fresh again. The most important thing you can do is continue to cultivate good study habits and you will see that GPA rise as a result throughout your junior and senior year.

Now, hopefully you aren't offended by this, but in reality you have no idea how you will handle "gore" or even what that consists of at this point. Shows are not real life and many people change over time and as they gain more experience. To that end, you are free to begin exploring careers in high school. I suggest career fairs (if they have anything of that nature at your high school) and talking to guidance counselors as a start. Reach out to any family members or relatives of your friends who are nurses, physicians, or otherwise involved in healthcare. See if you can talk to them about your interests. Maybe they will let you shadow them. Shadowing would give you a better idea of what medicine is actually like.

By the way, Emergency Medicine is very much a recognized specialty. You should look at the following links to give you a better idea of the breadth and depth of specialization in medicine. Many of these general fields apply to nursing as well.

Medical Specialties - Explore Options - Choose Your Specialty - Careers In Medicine

Specialty and Subspecialty Certificates | American Board of Medical Specialties

The following link is from the AAMC page for high school students.
https://students-residents.aamc.org/choosing-medical-career/article/high-school-students/

This one seemed pretty comprehensive for nursing education and specialties.
https://www.registerednursing.org/nursing-careers/

Something you may not have considered is becoming a Physician Assistant (PA).
"What is a PA?" - AAPA