Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad was established through an Act of Parliament on 21st March 2013. The Vice Chancellor was appointed by the Chancellor – President of Pakistan, on the recommendation of the Search Committee on 7th January 2014. The Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad is the constituent Hospital of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University. PIMS is the country’s premier Post Graduate Medical Centre since 1988.

The brief history of the PIMS indicates that the plan for establishing the hospital was conceived in late 1960’s. PIMS was visioned with the first name of Islamabad Hospital Complex (IHC), but later declared as the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, now a 1200-beded hospital. It was originally planned to be established within the premises of the National Institute of Health but later, shifted to its present site in amenity sector G-8/3 of Federal Capital which is central location of the capital city. It is worth noting that the city’s civic agency – Capital Development Authority (CDA), in 1975 had outlined a plan for the construction of an in-patient block. Within three years time in 1978, Pakistani engineers prepared a master plan for the institute, envisaging ample room for future alteration and expansion.