Pre-Med Medical Assistant

Medical Assistant Opportunity

Balboa is hiring a Medical Assistant to support physicians, advanced practice providers, and patients in a specialty nephrology practice. This is a full-scope MA role: rooming patients, administering injections, supporting refills and front-office workflows, and keeping clinic operations running smoothly.

This position is designed for pre-medical students on a gap year. Beyond the core MA responsibilities, strong performers gain hands-on exposure to nephrology, dialysis, and transplant care and have the opportunity to earn a letter of recommendation from one of our nephrologists and contribute to clinical research, including potential publication.

What This Opportunity Offers:

• Paid, hands-on clinical experience in a specialty medical setting.
• Direct exposure to nephrologists, APPs, patients, and multidisciplinary kidney care.
• Potential access to clinical observation and research opportunities for strong performers.
• Experience working within a multi-site medical group and learning healthcare operations.
• Opportunities to build clinical knowledge, professional relationships, and skills relevant to future healthcare careers.

Guiding Competencies:

• Patient-Centered Customer Service
• Critical Thinking and Proactive Problem Solving
• Collaboration and Communication
• Clinical Efficiency and Accuracy
• Reliability and Professional Commitment

Daily Duties and Responsibilities - Clinical + Administrative:

• Rooming and Preparing Patients : Escort patients to exam rooms, collect and record vital signs, review medications and allergies, and prepare patients for provider evaluations.
• Injection Administration : Administer IM, subcutaneous, or intradermal injections under provider direction and according to procedure.
• Patient Education : Distribute patient education materials and explain care instructions with compassion and clarity.
• Medication Refill Support : Process medication refill requests and authorizations in accordance with clinic workflows.
• Patient Check-In & Registration Support : Greet and assist patients at the front desk when needed, ensuring timely and friendly service.
• Telephone & Scheduling Backup : Support phone lines, appointment scheduling, and chart preparation when clinical volumes allow or require.
• Faxing, Scanning, and Document Management : Handle documentation, EHR uploads, and faxing in coordination with clinic workflows.
• Other Duties as Assigned : Perform tasks based on clinic needs with a focus on flexibility and team support.

Pre-Med Clinical Development Opportunities:

• Letter of Recommendation : MAs who demonstrate strong performance and reliability may earn a letter of recommendation from one of our nephrologists a meaningful asset for medical school applications.
• Clinical Research & Publication : Opportunity to assist with active research initiatives, with potential for co-authorship or acknowledgment on a presentation or published paper.
• Physician & APP Exposure : Work closely with nephrologists and advanced practice providers, gaining insight into clinical decision-making and longitudinal specialty care.
• Dialysis Center Rounding : Accompany nephrology providers during dialysis rounds to understand the management of patients with end-stage kidney disease.
• Vascular Access Center Observation : Exposure to outpatient procedures and the role vascular access plays in caring for patients with kidney disease.
• Kidney Transplant Observation : Opportunities to learn about kidney transplantation and potentially observe a transplant procedure, outside regular clinic hours.

Participation in shadowing, research, and other clinical development opportunities is based on demonstrated performance, reliability, attendance, professionalism, operational needs, and availability. These experiences are intended as developmental opportunities and are not guaranteed.

Pay Range: $23.00/hour

Location: In person

Program Length: 12 - 14 months

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree completed, or anticipated graduation within one year, with the intent to pursue medical school or another advanced healthcare degree.
• Strong academic standing.
• Demonstrated reliability, professionalism, and commitment to scheduled work hours.
• Strong communication, organizational, and multitasking skills.
• Interest in direct patient care and learning within a specialty medical environment.
• Valid driver's license and reliable transportation for clinic travel.
• Minimum of 2 years of previous work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Medical Assistant certification for assigned clinical duties.
• Experience using Epic or another EHR.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.

Required Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication
• Ability to provide excellent customer service
• Ability to interpret, adapt and apply guidelines and procedures
• Ability to use good reasoning and judgement and react appropriately in emergency situations
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with patients, medical staff and coworkers

Other considerations:

• Background check required
• Travel to other sites located within San Diego County may be required
• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
• Supervisory duties No

Language Skills:

While performing duties, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, read, write, type and respond in English and understand clinical/medical vocabulary written and spoken.

Vision Requirements:

Vision requirements include close vision, ability to adjust focus, and see color.

Physical Demands:

Physical requirements may vary slightly and should be reviewed with your manager. In general, this position requires the ability to lift up to 35 pounds unassisted; ability to stand for extended periods of time and to perform repetitive stooping, walking, stretching, reaching and some sitting; ability to use full range of body motions required to lift patients, wear a lead apron, and lift and move supplies. Must be able to safely ascend and descend stairs as a core part of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, when no elevator or lift is present.

Work Environment:

Job required tasks routinely involve a potential for mucous membrane or skin contact with blood, body fluids, tissues or potential spills or splashes. Use of appropriate personal protection measures is required for every healthcare provider in these positions. Require to routinely use standard office equipment such as laptop, computer, mouse, and photocopier.

About Balboa United:

Beginning in 1973, Balboa has grown from two physicians to a comprehensive nephrology team of 52 board certified physicians and 8 advanced practitioners. On January 1, 2018, Balboa Nephrology Medical Group (BNMG) launched Balboa United, a full-service medical practice management services organization. From one small office, BNMG now has 24 clinical offices throughout San Diego, Imperial, Orange and Riverside counties. In addition to office and hospital-based patient care, Balboa physicians manage the dialysis treatments of approximately 4,500 patients at 88 dialysis centers and conduct Nephrology based clinical research at 6 centers throughout Imperial and San Diego counties (California Institute of Renal Research).

EEO Statement Balboa United is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best available person in every job. Our Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion (including religious dress & grooming), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, registered domestic partner status, military status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also prohibit unlawful discrimination based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics. The Company is committed to compliance with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. This commitment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination by any employee of Balboa United