Mega Insurance agent. Wants to become independent broker????

Good afternoon. I am new to the world of being an insurance agent and have some questions that I would like to have addressed by the more seasoned and experienced agents of these forums. However, before I get to the pertinent questions it is probably necessary that I give you some background information about myself and how I ended up on this unforseeable path to being a health insurance agent. I am twenty six and I graduated three years ago with a B.S. in cellular and molecular biology. The intent at the time was to attend medical school; yet, working close with physicians over the past three years I realized that being a physician in todays economy is less about medicine and more about running a business. Simply put my desire of becoming a physician had deteriorated and recently came to the realization that I would be better suited in a different sector. After discussing this transition with friends and family and doing some background research I have recently made the decision to receive my MBA within the next several years; however, I would preferably like to have some hands on prior business experience before I start the appplication process. I felt as if getting a job in sales or marketing would be a good building block to acquire the necessary skills and acumen to make me a better applicant for receiving the desired degree. Like the many legions of unemployed/disgruntled/transitioning people I began posting and sending my resume to dozens of positions and web sites daily. With little success I was becoming progressively impatient and frustrated until I received an email from Cornerstone America; a company claiming to help small businesses; inviting me to a company presentation. Tired of my unemployed life resigned to domesticity and catering to my girlfriends needs I attended the presentation and brief interview session with the intent of seeing what this company had to offer. We were presented with a presentation that spent about 90% of the time discussing their "Association benefits" and the remaining 10% discussing insurance. I do not consider myself naive and could tell from the presentation that the majority of the sales come through health insurance and the so called benefits were additional perks that most people will not use anyway. In short the presentation was a round about way of telling us that you are with Cornerstone to sell insurance and the so called benefits to assist small businesses were trivial. That being said I had no problem with the thought of being an insurance agent. I believed then and still do believe that I can acquire many good skills through being an agent. Establishing and sustaining a client base, communication skills, advertising skills, and organization are all valuable skills that will help me in my pursuit of receiving my MBA. In short I will not be an insurance agent for life; rather, I am committed to taking this time to learn about insurance in the most comprehensive manner that I can, and I plan on working as an agent to learn about insurance and not working solely for the purpose of making money.
I appologize for the lengthly preamble but I am about to get back to my central point and address my questions. While I do not want to change the topic of this thread to a Cornerstone America and MEGA insurance bashing session I will say that I felt that the training sessions were pretty inadequate and I feel as if there are a lot of holes that are left unfilled (probably because there are many). This is not to say that I think that the insurance is a particularly bad product, I just think that they are very well aware of the laziness of most people and the genreal unwillingness of people to become INFORMED CONSUMERS who in turn completely depend on an agent representing thair respective company for answers. This general principal not only applies to consumers but raw agents like myself who are new to the insurance in general (e.g. I am working in a new office and I am currently the only agent but two people have already quit after a week. Furthermore their hiring practices smack of desperation as the two individuals used English as a second language and did not have a grasp of the language. How you hire someone who doesnt speak english in a job requiring communincation was an immediate red flag). I have already stated my intent on my reasons as to why I took this job; however, I have quickly learned that there is an obvious conflict of interest when trying to sell health insurance for one company. Instead of becoming a good agent this system in place is designed to make you a better sales person. Rather than being about the client it can easily be about you. I make it a point to read and study at least one different plan or policy from a competing company to see how our product differs from theirs thus increasing my insurance knowledge and making me a more complete and thorough agent. In my two and a half weeks as an agent I have made a handful of presentations but I often find myself recommending them a different and better more comprehensive plan from another company that would probably better fit their needs. I have no qualms about telling somebody not to get our product if it is not right for them. That is my duty as an agent first and foremeost. I honestly dont think i can be successful with this company seeing as how I tell potential clients about what we dont cover and actually show them our manuals during the presentation (Something I was told we shouldnt really do). I reitereate I do not want to give the impression that this company is corrupt. I am sure there are outstanding agents with the utmost of integrity who genuinely look out for their clients. I am also well aware that I am a new agent with no prior sales background and fully anticipate sucking at this job for the first several months and I am fine with that as long as I continue to learn. My general question and concern is whether or not it is better to be an individual broker or a captive agent?? Has anybody else experinced something similar to myself? what steps do I take to become an independent agent? Are there companies that are specifically designed to employ independent agents? How would I build a client base being an independent agent? Who would I talk to in the state of Pennsylvania to become an independent agent? Will I need to reimburse the company my advances? If so what can I do to avoid reimbursing the company? In general what advice would you have for someone in my position?

I apologize for the extremely long post. I totally understand if people will refrain from addressing my questions. Nevertheelss if you manage to read all of this I genuinely appreciate your time and if you have the time to address my questions I will be very appreciative of your concerns, time, and advice regarding this matter of mine.

Respectfully,
AW