With an emphasis on caring for and advocating for the patients they are tasked with serving, pharmacists from around the region gathered in Newport recently for the University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy’s annual “Seminar By the Sea” conference.

The conference — March 14-16 at Gurney’s Newport Resort and Marina, 1 Goat Island, Newport — brought together pharmacists, clinicians and students to discuss some of the largest issues affecting health care today. Training sessions during the seminar provided continuing education credits for pharmacists.

A host of pharmaceutical and medical professionals made presentations on such topics as the ongoing opioid crisis, avoiding pharmaceutical errors, the physiological impacts of marijuana on children and adolescents, and more. Continuing education credits were available in such topics as preceptor training and compounding best practices, and a panel discussion addressed the local response to drug supply challenges. The college presented the annual Dr. Norman A. Campbell Award for Ethics and Excellence in Healthcare to CVS Vice President Tom Davis.

In a keynote address delivered to the group March 16, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse addressed efforts at the federal level to address the opioid crisis, which has hit Rhode Island particularly hard. More than one person a day in the state dies of an opioid overdose, Whitehouse said.

Check out a photo gallery from the conference below.