Dr. Bakhtyar Zahid was born in Peshawar, Pakistan. He did his schooling from St. Mary?s high school, Peshawar and matriculated in 1977. He remained a top student throughout, breaking all the previous records and his name still remains on the honours list of the school. He later did his F.Sc. from Edwards College Peshawar and was among the top ten in the province. Dr. Bakhtyar was offered a seat at the Armed Forces Medical College, Rawalpindi but he chose to join Khyber Medical College; which is where he graduated in 1985. After completing his house job, he was selected by the public service commission in 1987 and was appointed medical officer Incharge of a Basic health unit in district Peshawar where he remained until 1990.

He then proceeded to UK in 1990 where he passed MRCP 1 and was selected by the Royal College of Physicians of London for higher training in UK. This culminated in achieving the membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child health MRCPCH (London) in 1999.

Dr. Bakhtyar has also received full ECFMG certification after having passed the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (1997-98). In recognition of his international experience the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) offered him exemption from the residency programme year one.

Dr. Bakhtyar hails from a multilingual background and is fluent in Persian and Pushto and other local dialects as well as being proficient in English and Urdu.

Prior to joining RMI, Dr. Bakhtyar has worked as Paediatric Registrar in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar for four years. He then moved to UK where he completed his specialist training in Paediatrics. During this period that covers almost a decade, Dr. Bakhtyar had an opportunity to work in various hospitals through out UK where he gained valuable clinical, teaching and administrative experience. He started his training as a Senior House Officer, quickly moving to Senior SHO/Registrar positions. On completion of his training he joined the Royal Berkshire hospital on the permanent position of Staff grade in Paediatrics. His special interest was Neuro-Developmental Paediatrics. He remained at this position before moving to Pakistan in 2002.

During his last appointment, Dr. Bakhtyar was actively involved in the new health initiative of the UK government called 'Sure Start" and represented the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust. He has been part of the clinical Governance and Unit business meetings for performance evaluation and planning throughout his appointments. His responsibilities also included attending "Child Protection Conferences" and liaising with Police and social services and appearing as expert witness in court

Dr. Bakhtyar has been regularly involved in the teaching of undergraduates from various UK medical schools that were affiliated with the hospitals where he worked including Guy?s and St. Thomas? Medical School, London.

Dr. Bakhtyar is certified by the European Resuscitation Council in Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS). He has been a regular attendee at the Annual Spring meeting of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health.

He has attended numerous seminars and courses and is also a member of various societies and associations including BACH, Child protection, Epilepsy Association etc. Dr. Bakhtyar has also been actively involved with research and audit and has attended various meetings and seminars. Since his return to Pakistan, various pharmaceutical companies as well as college of family medicine have invited him as a guest speaker on many occasions.