graduate researcher

teaching assistant

financial analyst

laboratory assistant

program coordinator

University of California, Riverside

Working at the UC Riverside School of Medicine has been a valuable early-career experience, particularly for those interested in health policy, academic medicine, and community health. The institution has a strong mission centered on improving care access in underserved communities across Inland Southern California, which makes the work feel meaningful and aligned with broader health equity goals. 

In my role, I had the opportunity to support a range of initiatives spanning policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and program development. The work environment encourages collaboration across clinical, academic, and administrative teams, and I gained exposure to how large health systems and medical education programs operate in practice. The experience was especially valuable for developing skills in translating complex policy issues into actionable materials and supporting cross-functional projects.

That said, the day-to-day experience can vary significantly depending on your team and supervisor. As with many large academic institutions, there can be challenges related to communication, organizational structure, and clarity around roles or advancement pathways. Some teams are highly supportive and collaborative, while others may have less structured workflows.

Overall, this is a strong place to gain experience in health policy, health systems, and academic medicine—particularly early in your career. It’s a good fit for individuals who are self-directed, adaptable, and motivated by mission-driven work, but those seeking highly structured environments or rapid advancement may find it more challenging.

Pros:

Mission-driven work focused on underserved communities

Strong exposure to health policy, Medi-Cal, and academic medicine

Opportunities to work with interdisciplinary teams

Valuable early-career learning environment


Cons:

Organizational structure can be unclear at times

Communication and workflow vary by team

Limited clarity on advancement in some roles

My day consist of opening the office in the morning. The first thing I do is turn on the lights. I open the safe and count the petty cash, check voicemail for messages and foward them to the appropriate personal. Log into the EMR program ECLINCALWORKS, check for telephone encounters and messages. I make sure all the forms are stocked up for the day and open the office for business. Through out the day I register patients that come into the office to be seen, which intails of going over the registration forms making sure the patients fill out the forms properly with signature and date. Then I put the patient on schedule in the EMR program input all the patients information at the same time verify insurance online or over the phone, co-pay or deductible if one applies. Once the patient is discharged from the back office I check them out and scan all the documents into there file in the EMR program. During down time I review patient documents checking for missing items and mistakes. I also input data entry for billing keeping all collections up to date. I also help administration with projects, filing, scanning and create documents.

I learned the EMR program ECLINICALWORKS, and how to work in an emergency situation with patients and staff.

The management of the facility and staff is great they always have an open door policy. They are all very approchable and profissional.

I enjoy working with my co-worker they always willing to help when the time is needed. 

The hardest part of my job was working eleven and half hour days. And the the most enjoyable part of working for the company is helping patients and working with my co-workers.

A typical day at CGC was usually preparation for large events that occurred throughout UCR's campus. There was plenty of loading and unloading decorations and gourmet food to various locations on and off campus, polishing silverware to make the appearance of our dishes the cleanest they can be, training sessions to keep our employees updated on the newest safety procedures, weddings and college related events, and of course lots and lots of gourmet food. I learned a lot about scheduling, time management, leadership, decoration, culinary lifestyle, quality service, and general knowledge about food service. Management was efficient, approachable, friendly, and above all very professional. The managers are kind to their employees and are very understanding about student schedules. The majority of the employees are student workers who attend University level course full time and work part time. The most difficult pat of the job would be that the hours can be a bit sporadic. There is no real set schedule and that could be difficult for individuals who are attending school or have families at home. However, the management is aware of these issues and work with their employees to maneuver around those issues as much as they can. The co-workers are eager to help new and returning employees. They easily make the job enjoyable with the light and friendly atmosphere. The most enjoyable part of the job is that there are moments where you will be working vigorously, however, there are times between events where you can get a nice break. I would highly recommend this job to anyone interested in working in the catering industry.

During the training week there were lots of scheduling errors which led to times where we had to sit for 45 minute breaks, unpaid, and were not allowed to leave because they "didn't know when the next speaker was arriving." This inefficiency during training set the scene for the entirety of my working experience. Upper managements stress became our burden. Negativity truly trickles down in this job. I've seen upper level staff taking out stress by yelling at low level student employees. I was once witness to a pro-staff worker getting yelled at by his supervisor and literally throwing a student employee under the bus for his mistake. I was truly repulsed by the lack of maturity and professionalism.

I've also seen student employees finishing bits of work for 10 minutes after shifts or forgoing their paid ten minute breaks to make up for upper level staff mistakes. That might not seem like much, but over time it really adds up to a lot of unpaid work. 

The only good thing to look forward to in this job is the other student employees. Some of the RSLs are really amazing and going through all of this pain with other student workers really binds you together.

The environment depends on the specific management team in charge of you. Some things I learned are....
⦁	Estimated amounts and costs of required supplies, such as food and ingredients
⦁	Reduced food costs  by using seasonal and left over ingredients,setting standards for portion size and minimizing waste.
⦁	Achieved and exceeded performance, budget and team goals.
⦁	Executed daily production lists and goals
⦁	Tested products or subassemblies for functionality or quality.
⦁	Prepared all orders within minimal time frames including specialty foods such as pizzas and sandwiches, omelets, soups hamburgers and fried chicken (ect.) at a busy cafeteria environment and many retail concepts
⦁	Accurately and efficiently prepared healthy, delicious fish, meat and vegetable-based dishes while maintaining proper food safety practices, portion control and presentation within service goal times.
⦁	Prepared large batches of single serve pre-packaged cold food that were staged until needed.
⦁	Responsible for garnishes for main courses, pasta, soups and potages.age 
⦁	Stored food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage
⦁

A typical day starts either with biological experiment or system works related with hardware or software. I had to troubleshoot issues related with hardware and software and had to solve accordingly. As I collaborated in different projects, I tried to plan the schedule ahead of time with effective time management. I spent lot of time with my co-workers in lab as well as outside of lab. We celebrated different occasions with our colleagues and had very fun time. My co-workers were co-operative and helpful. 
The hardest part of the job were to troubleshoot different hardware and software issues as for example finding out the source of memory-leak issues in C++ programming during developing the acquisition code was a big challenge. On the other hand, when we found good results, we were very excited as for example when we observed neural activity in a dissected limulus optic nerve by our custom-built electrophysiology and acquisition system for the first time, we were very happy. The most enjoyable part of the lab was to discuss good results in group meeting.

They want you to work, train, multiple tasks, a lot of thank you's, no raises unless union contractual . Your judged on how you schmooze with upper management not on skill.  They want volume work for minimal pay.  It doesn't matter if you receive outstanding self appraisal it only matters to the supervisors your doing the work without any acknowledgement in pay. 
Yet they ask for money for fundraisers for the school.  I guess they think we have money to give yet we basically have no money to add to  retirement.  Our pay hasn't even met basic living day to day. 

Their attitude is:  If you quit or leave for another job " Their motto is we can get another body," no loss there. Actually doesn't make sense its costing them money.  High turnover on administrative staff. 

Unfortunately, I bought their do more you get more. Yet we are so top heavy management wise.  Yet there is no money for staff who have been here years.  I'm stuck here now until I retire. I must get what little I have in retirement.  
Their happy with you long as you don't ask for a raise. Otherwise your life is made hard.

A typical day at work was managing the email inbox and preparing for upcoming committee meetings, which entailed many tedious detailed tasks. I believe I learned the inter-workings of administration at a large public institution, though it was during the pandemic and the working environment that once was in-person shifted to remote. Therefore, a workplace culture did not really exist other than the digital one. The most enjoyable part of the job was the clear structure of tasks and working from home for me personally because I am more efficient on my computer in the comfort of my familiar space. The hardest part of the job was maintaining sharpness as misspellings on the many emails and documents that were sent could slip through the cracks. Since I was WFH, my supervisor did not really micromanage me and we had our weekly check-in meetings to make sure we were on task and keeping up with deadlines.

Customer Service: greeting and assisting customer with any questions or concerns. Data Entry: entering customer’s personal information, confidentiality, getting in contact with clients, answer voicemail, and scheduled appointments. Providing information to the customer, through fax, email, and over the phone. Keeping a clean organized desk, and work environment. Assist counselor with information for customer/students general major questions and requirements. Recruited: traveled and visit other college campuses and recruited customer/students to UCR, as well as encouraged students to continue for higher education. Provided and explained the application process, requirements for transferring to a University with all the information and deadlines needed. Knowledge of filing, making copies, faxing, and creation of archive. Aided both English and Spanish speaking customer /students with any questions regarding our programs and service. I enjoyed working with my co-workers very friendly and understanding.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Excellent experience teaching ESL to foreign students.
Wonderful staff to work with for 14 years.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Time constraints for some classes with 

The students are visiting from foreign countries.
Classes ranged from 3 days to 3-4 weeks.
Material needs to be covered within constraints.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Environment is very pleasant and definitely a positive educational experience.
Faculty and staff are always helpful.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Class schedules vary.  Students design a power point presentation of their experience. The curriculum includes field trips to colleges or businesses students aspire to.  These voyages include fun trips to beaches, sporting games, and shopping to enhance their American cultural experience. Students enjoy the trips.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Graduate researcher 6 salaries reported	$36,600 per year
Teaching assistant 6 salaries reported	$3,500 per month
Financial analyst 12 salaries reported	$97,803 per year
Laboratory assistant 13 salaries reported	$25.29 per hour
Program coordinator 5 salaries reported	$84,339 per year

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