Where do I go from here?

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ishmael.

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Hello everyone. This is my first post, so please lead me in the right direction if this belongs in a different thread or subforum!

I started working half time as a medical scribe in June, which was my first real exposure to medicine. From this experience I have realized that I want to go to medical school. I had always considered it throughout high school and college but wasn't dead set, and was thinking I'd likely go to graduate school until I realized how great being a physician really is.

I'd like advice on what my next moves should be. I took all the prerequisites in college but other than that and my job, I'm at square one. What should I do now that will allow me to start med school as soon as possible? I want to be able to get in the first time I apply, so I want to do it right, even if that means not applying right away so that I can work for another year, volunteer, do additional research, etc. Are any of the things listed below not helpful for applications? Is it 100% necessary to have a ton of volunteering and extracurriculars or is my work experience helpful?

25 y.o. Colorado resident. College GPA 3.5, sGPA 3.5.
Research: 2 semesters assisting with plant growth in ecology lab, summer undergrad research program in embryo development
Clinical volunteering: None
Non-clinical volunteering: None
Shadowing: None
Work experience: Full time ESL teacher in Korea for 13 months, 500 hr and counting medical scribing
Extracurriculars: Outdoor climbing club in college, traveling?

I am just starting down this path, so I feel like I don't even know what questions to ask. Is it impossible for me to expect to be able to apply next cycle? Would it be wise to work as a CNA or something similar where I am able to interact more with patients? Any advice appreciated.

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Clinical volunteering: going to be very difficult until COVID wanes. Don't focus on this right now. I actually didn't have an clinical volunteering before COVID and I got in just on other volunteering.
Non-clinical volunteering: find anything you're passionate about and shoot for 500+ hours
Shadowing: Your scribing job basically covers this
Everything else is just fluff, but it's good that you have strong ECs

CNA is not particularly helpful for medical school.

Your GPAs are fine. The real question is how much of your pre-reqs do you remember? You'll need to take time and refresh your knowledge of those classes for the MCAT. Your GPA is on a slightly low side for MD schools but it's not a deal breaker. A strong MCAT 515+ (90%+) can still make you competitive for many mid-tier MD programs. For DO schools, I'd advise anything 505+ to make you a strong candidate.
 
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