Thanks so much to you all 
I guess I’ve come late to the discussion, but a belated congratulations on your decision!! I am a physician and Swarthmore graduate, was combing through the web as our daughter is gearing up for the college application process, and came across this message string.
Just to reassure you and your parents, Swatties who are interested in pursuing a medical degree generally do quite well. Because many Swarthmore grads pursue academic careers, including in academic medicine, the College is well-respected in medical school spheres. In my year (mid-1980s), of the two dozen or so students who applied, all but one or two applicants were accepted to medical school (e.g, UCSF, Columbia, Cornell-Rockefeller, Yale, Harvard, Penn, Temple, etc). Having taught at Harvard Medical School and sat in on admissions committees, I know that colleges like Swarthmore and Dartmouth are both well-respected. Regarding biomedical research opportunities in the Swarthmore area, the opportunities are quite extensive in Philly. One can tap into the research opportunities at the Wistar Institute, Penn, Temple, Jefferson, etc. Between my sophomore, junior, and senior years, I worked in a Nobel laureate’s lab as a summer student at Fox Chase Cancer Center just north of Philly.
Students talk about the intensity of a medical school curriculum. Frankly, compared to my workload at Swarthmore, med school was a breeze. Presenting patient cases on hospital ward rounds was akin to presenting character/plot analyses in an English lit seminar course in college…
I don’t know if this would be of interest to you, but Swarthmore offers several scholarships to pre-med students (http://catalog.swarthmore.edu/content.php?catoid=7&navoid=168) including one set up by my extended family. As a whole, Swarthmore alums are more than happy to lend advice to current students while they sort out their career plans. My wife (stroke neurologist) and I have done that in the past for Swarthmore students considering a career in medicine. Feel free to reach out to us!
In any case, enjoy Swarthmore and savor the college experience!!
Wow, thank you @kreino !
My apologies for not responding earlier – I was in the midst of my final exams! I’ll PM you shortly.