If I were you just read medical books and knows basic medical knowledge as it could help in interviewing process.

yup, u should do it esp if u r applying for the more competitive medskols. i did stpm so it's a diff matter for me.

I'm not sure what do you mean by experience before-hand, but I assume it's like those pre-medschool entry kind of thing where aspiring students apply for a short term (few days to 1, 2 weeks) of posting at hospitals. IMO it's not particularly helpful.

Sure, its aims is to expose students to the real life of being a doctor, and it surely dispels most myths (mainly those glamourous and exciting perceptions) that a layperson could have. Nevertheless, being someone who has very limited, if not zero, knowledge about the medical world, one is probably going to end up standing in a corner listening to jargons which sound like alien language. I'm currently doing my electives in S'pore and last week I met two students who did the same pre-med school attachment thingy. We had a patient who suffered an extensive subdural hemorrhage and eventually coned; and when the ED consultants were explaining the CT scans and other medical stuff eg resuscitation to us, the two students just couldn't make any sense out of it. This is not to show off or anything, but rather to highlight the relative uselessness of doing such activities especially when one has no real knowledge of the medical side of things.

I'm not sure about shadowing GPs, and would GPs be willing to take in students who have no prior medical teaching? Volunteering at a hospital on the other hand is a bit difficult as well if one is not particularly trained in specific medical procedures. I don't think any volunteer would be allowed to perform venepunctures or cannula insertions or set up drips etc, so one might end up doing boring stuff like pushing trollies and wheelchairs/show directions/ office and paper work. I could be wrong, so correct me if I am.

Another thing, is that mean I should apply for IMU since PMU not recognized? How good is IMU like its tweening partner.