BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency"
BIP Diaries
23rd January 2026
The Red Cross Medical College of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) is excited to start the Blended Intensive Program “Further Empowering the Role of Future Healthcare Professionals in Emergency Care” with an introductory online lecture.
The opening session brought together participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Greece, highlighting the international and interdisciplinary nature of the programme.
Key speakers of the session:
- Viktors Gorovenko, Director of the Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant Study Programme
- Sanita Litiņa, Deputy Director in Academic and Research Affairs
- Anna Darafeja, International Relations Specialist
During the lecture, the speakers introduced the objectives, structure, and key topics of the upcoming BIP, while also highlighting the importance of collaboration, innovation, and professional development healthcare education and crisis management. The session aimed to familiarize participants with the framework of the program and to lay a solid foundation for a productive and engaging study process.
The introductory lecture also provided an opportunity for participants to connect with peers from different countries and to gain insight into the academic and practical aspects of the BIP.
Stay tuned for next week’s lecture, which will focus on the role of communication in medical simulations, an essential component of effective emergency care training.
28rd January 2026
Blended Intensive Program “Further Empowering the Role of Future Healthcare Professionals in Emergency Care” organised by the Red Cross Medical College of Rīga Stradiņš University participants attended the second virtual lecture in the program.
Key speaker of the session:
- Lāsma Škestere, lecturer at Rīga Stradiņš University’s Faculty of Social Sciences and a communications professional.
During the lecture, the students had a chance to develop a better understanding of the role of communication, particularly the definitions, structure and aims of crisis communication and some of the examples of instances of crisis communication made in real political or social crisis scenarios.
The lecture also provided an opportunity for participants to explore different types of crisis situations, understand the importance of preparation for being able to handle crisis situations and critically analyse the examples provided.
Stay tuned for the next week’s posts where the lecturers and the participants meet offline in Riga at RSU RCMC for the most intense five-day on-site part of the program.
2nd February 2026
Today more than 20 participants from five different countries and six different educational institutions started the offline part of BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency". Students were welcomed in College by the Deputy Director in Academic and Research Work Sanita Litiņa and the International Project Coordinator Anna Darafeja. Following the Director Ināra Upmale’s welcoming speech, the students participated in activities dedicated to communication – intercultural, professional, in social and medical setting.
The main lecture of the day on Effective Communication in Healthcare and Patient Safety was delivered by Madara Blumberga, a healthcare professional with extensive experience in both clinical practice and education. Madara works as a paediatric nurse and is actively involved in the development of medical education through leading simulation-based training programs. In her work, Madara places particular emphasis on clear, empathetic, and collaboration-oriented communication with colleagues, patients, and their families.
3rd February 2026
The second offline day of BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency" at RSU RCMC saw a workshop on Simulated public health crisis communication. The students were divided into groups representing different stakeholders and participated in a simulated conference surrounding managing a natural event that would threaten the health of the public. The students had to analyse the situation, assume a stance, prepare and deliver arguments and provide feedback.
The workshop was conducted by Lāsma Šķestere – a lecturer at Rīga Stradiņš University’s Faculty of Social Sciences and a communications professional with more than 17 years of industry experience. She specialises in simulation-based learning, with a particular focus on crisis simulations. Lāsma believes that crises can affect any project, organisation, or institution - and that preparedness is the key factor determining how successfully a crisis is managed.
4th February 2026
On the third day of the offline part of BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency" at RSU RCMC the students listened to the informative lecture delivered by the representatives of the Latvian Red Cross and participated in practical First Aid workshops.
The students were guided by the following specialists:
- Lauris Mainieks, First Aid and Emergency Situations Program Manager/Certified First Aid Instructor
- Evija Namiķe, LSK Youth Manager
- Solvita Bespalova, Public Relations Specialist, LSK International and Public Relations Program
During the event, participants of the BIP were able to gain an understanding into the scope of the activities that is performed by LSK and how healthcare professionals, students and volunteers can get involved with its activity in order to engage with the public wellbeing and health.
The highlight of the lecture was to underscore the importance of international and public cooperation for strengthened professional capacity, visibility of the activity and promotion of the program.
LSK Youth Program ensures that young people spend their free time with use, implementing initiatives and ideas, participating in non-formal education training and popularizing volunteer work for the development of experience and skills.
Overall, the students were able to learn more about the LSK activities and the scope of the work carried out in:
- First Aid
- Health Promotion and Responsibility for a Sustainable Environment
- Promoting Social Inclusion
- Reducing Discrimination
- Popularizing LSK and LSKJ Ideas; Regional and International Cooperation
5th February 2026
During the fourth day of the offline part of BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency" at RSU RCMC the students participated in Emergency Situation simulation, where they were able to develop and test their practical skills, such as CPR, triage, use of AED and others. The students were guided by academic staff of RSU RCMC and invited experts with extensive practical and professional experience.
Later during the day the students had time for the group work, where they were asked to reflect on their experience, analyze the information learned and explain what practical and theoretical knowledge they have gained for their future professional path.
6th February 2026
The final day of the offline part of BIP "Further empowering future healthcare professional's role in emergency" at RSU RCMC gave students an opportunity to reflect upon their learned knowledge and experiences. The students delivered creative presentations summarizing their experience, highlighting the things they found useful and applicable and discovering the areas of further interest. Overall, the students spent an active and engaging week at RSU RCMC, full of both intensive academic learning, cultural activities and international communication.
BIP archive
In BIP "DIGITAL HEALTH 2.0." we continued to develop knowledge about working with healthcare data in the digital environment, providing digital healthcare services, educating the society about how e-health works and promoting doctor and patient cooperation.
The goal of the event is to acquire knowledge in working with health information in the digital environment, to get acquainted with the user-entered digital service, including the design and operation process of the e-health, and to understand the structure of different types of health information data sources. Digital technologies hold great potential for enhancing health care in terms of empowering patients, improving access and equity, and delivering better health outcomes!
Events was divided into two parts :
Online : October 30 – November 24, 2023
On site : November 27 – December 1, 2023
Projekts tiek īstenots pateicoties Eiropas Komisijas Erasmus+ programmas finansiālam atbalstam.
This project has been funded by the European Commission Erasmus+ programme.
