Medical Assistant Jobs in Long Beach, CA
Medical assistants in Long Beach staff hospital clinics on the MemorialCare campus on Atlantic Avenue, St. Mary Medical Center downtown and a dozen TCC Family Health sites, with local postings running about $26 to $34 an hour. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring and how to train.
Current medical assistant Openings in Long Beach, CA
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Medical Assistant Work in Long Beach
Most Long Beach medical assistant jobs sit in outpatient clinics attached to the city's big hospital systems. MemorialCare runs pediatric specialty clinics at Children's Village on the Miller Children's & Women's Hospital campus at 2801 Atlantic Ave, plus medical group and urgent care sites around the city. Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center on Linden Avenue downtown hires MAs for its outpatient programs, including its HIV care clinic.
The other big MA employer is TCC Family Health, the nonprofit community health center founded as The Children's Clinic in 1939, with sites from the Westside on Santa Fe Avenue to North Long Beach on Artesia Boulevard and the East Anaheim Street corridor. Pediatric clinic experience counts for a lot here, because so much of the work serves children and families, and Miller Children's postings ask for it outright.
Top Long Beach Employers Hiring Medical Assistants
These Long Beach employers hire medical assistants, confirmed on their own careers sites:
- MemorialCare Medical Foundation - the MemorialCare physician group hires MAs for Long Beach clinics and urgent care, including per diem shifts.
- Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach - the Atlantic Avenue children's hospital hires MAs for its Children's Village specialty clinics.
- Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center - the downtown hospital hires full-time MAs for outpatient programs such as its HIV care clinic.
- TCC Family Health - the community health center lists medical assistants among the clinical staff it hires across its Long Beach clinics.
Medical Assistant Salaries in Long Beach
- Entry level: about $22 to $26 an hour for newly trained MAs, with community clinics held to a $22 floor under state law.
- Experienced: roughly $26 to $30 an hour in hospital-run clinics and urgent care.
- Senior / specialty: about $30 to $34 an hour for MAs with specialty clinic experience, such as St. Mary's HIV care program.
These are estimates drawn from local employer postings and California's SB 525 health care minimum wage. Pay moves with the setting, specialty, schedule and certification: per diem and evening shifts can add incentives, and MemorialCare's Long Beach MA postings list phlebotomy certification as a plus.
How to Become a Medical Assistant in Long Beach
California does not license, certify or register medical assistants, so there is no state board to apply to. The Medical Board of California does set minimum training for some tasks, including at least 10 clock hours of training before an MA gives injections and 10 before drawing blood. Long Beach employers almost always ask for a certificate from a medical assistant program plus BLS. Long Beach City College offers Medical Assisting in combined administrative and clinical, clinical-only and administrative-only options, designed to finish in about two semesters and starting each fall, and the combined option qualifies you for the exams of the five certifying organizations the Medical Board approves.
What the Job Involves
Medical assistants keep a clinic moving. You room patients, take vital signs, height and weight, record histories in the electronic health record, prepare exam rooms, assist the provider with procedures, give injections and draw blood where trained, collect specimens, and handle referrals, prescription refills and follow-up calls. Many jobs also cover the front desk on busy days.
Skills Employers Look For
- Certificate from a medical assistant program
- BLS for Healthcare Providers
- Vital signs, injections and phlebotomy
- Electronic health record charting
- Pediatric and ambulatory clinic experience
- Calm, friendly patient service
Career Path and Advancement
Many Long Beach MAs start per diem or in a float pool, then move to a full-time specialty clinic, a lead MA role or a clinic supervisor job. Others use the work as a stepping stone into nursing through LBCC's vocational nursing and associate degree programs or CSULB's School of Nursing, or into phlebotomy and medical billing through LBCC certificates.
Related Careers in Long Beach
If medical assisting interests you, these related Long Beach roles are close matches:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do medical assistants need a license in California?
No. California does not license, certify or register medical assistants. The Medical Board of California sets minimum training for tasks such as injections and blood draws, and most Long Beach employers require a certificate from a medical assistant program.
How much do medical assistants make in Long Beach?
Long Beach hospital-system postings show $26 an hour for per diem MAs at MemorialCare and $27.34 to $34.32 an hour for a full-time MA at St. Mary Medical Center. Community clinics must pay at least $22 an hour under the state health care minimum wage.
Is national MA certification required in Long Beach?
Not by state law, but some employers and their insurers prefer it. LBCC's combined medical assisting program qualifies graduates for the exams of the five certifying organizations approved by the Medical Board of California.
How long does it take to become a medical assistant?
LBCC's program is designed to be completed in about two semesters, starting in the fall. Most employers also want BLS before your first day, and pediatric or specialty clinics often prefer prior clinical experience.
Can medical assistants draw blood in California?
Yes, under a supervising physician, once they have the training the Medical Board of California requires: at least 10 clock hours in venipuncture and skin puncture and at least 10 of each performed satisfactorily. MemorialCare's Long Beach MA postings list phlebotomy certification as preferred.
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