I am really interested in it, but am discouraged because of the stiff competition; i feel like trying to get into Medical School instead.
Practicing medicine gets pretty boring after ten or so years. The tenth case of "Little Johnny and his sore ear" that day becomes very tedious. Most of the people I know who went into flying jets are pretty bored working on an automated flight deck after ten or so years. Both jobs have their moments, but they are mainly routine.
(Though getting either trade to admit this to an outsider is like squeezing blood from a stone - too many inflated egos in both
)
Go to med school, make a scad load of cash, then buy yourself a real plane and fly for fun - not for money.
If you want to fly jets, and I see you are in the US, you can drop a load of cash and go to Embury Riddle or some similar place. You can also 'self improve', get your CPL and CFI, and build hours. I would imagine/hope that by the time you are attractive to the airlines, this competition you talk about will have mostly disappeared. I wouldn't join the military, but others most certainly would.
Why not go get your private licence and see what you think?
IMO