It was a landmark for women in the armed forces when, on June 17, 2002, Dr Shahida Malik was promoted to the rank of a major-general in the Pakistan Army. She became the first two-star general officer, not just in the Pakistan Army, but also in the Muslim world.

This convent-educated lady joined the Army Medical Corps in February 1970 as General Duty Medical Officer and many honours, distinctions and medals later, retired from service in 2004 as the most decorated woman general officer.

But Shahida Malik has been at the receiving end of awards and honours much before she joined the army — she has an outstanding academic record that includes a first position in Rawalpindi board in Matric, second position in Intermediate, and distinction and a gold medal in surgery upon her graduation from Fatima Jinnah Medical College Lahore in 1969.

This competitive, driven and highly successful woman didn’t grow up dreaming of a career in the army. It was her dissatisfaction with the mismanagement and sorry state of the government hospital where she was doing her house job that made her opt for the disciplined and organised set-up of the army. She was first posted at CMH Risalpur in 1972, where she was promoted to the rank of captain, and later she also served at CMH Rawalpindi, and for a brief period at PNS Shifa, Karachi. After this, when she was serving at CMH Quetta, Shahida was promoted to the rank of major.

By this time she was married to Asad Malik, also a doctor in the army and who has also had a very distinguished career as an army surgeon who retired as a major-general.

Though Shahida accompanied Dr Malik to Edinburgh when he went there for specialisation, she didn’t pursue any academic activity there as she was focusing on her young family. Upon return, she was was posted first in Rawalpindi then to CMH Peshawar where she got promoted to lieutenant-colonel.

Now, at the age of 40, she felt the need to upgrade her qualifications and enrolled for a Masters in Advanced Medical Administration course at Quaid-i-Azam University. Despite being the oldest in the class with people half her age, she topped in her batch. This soon led to Shahida becoming a brigadier in 1995, a great achievement at the time for a female army officer.

Shahida was then appointed Deputy Commandant (Administration and Support Services) in the Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology and National Institute of Heart Diseases (AFIC/NIHD). And she, once again, proved herself in this challenging position and her efforts further improved AFIC/NIHD’s standing as a premier cardiac care institute of the country.

When Shahida Malik received the badges of a two-star general in 2002, her husband, Major-General Asad Mehmood Malik, was among those at the stage to bestow this honour. This warrants a modification in the saying ‘Behind every successful man is a woman’ — in this case we can say that beside this successful woman was a successful and supportive man. —Ambreen Arshad