Every. Minute. Counts.
Verified Clinical Credentials for the
Mechanical Circulatory Support Bedside Team
Your clinical experience is real. Your record should be too.
To provide an independent registry of verified clinical experience for clinicians caring for mechanical circulatory support patients.
every Minute Counts.™
Why MCSR Exists
Clinical excellence in mechanical circulatory support has always been measurable. It simply has not been consistently documented in a portable professional record.
Clinical experience is career currency.
Why It Matters
The credential the field has been missing.
MCS care happens every day at the bedside. The people providing it have no formal mechanism to document, verify, or credential those hours. Until now.
A clinician who has not run a complex case in two years carries the same credential as one who ran 150 last year. Verified hours change that. MCSR™ measures what actually matters — time at the bedside.
Perfusionists, RNs, RTs, PAs, NPs — if you are caring for patients on mechanical circulatory support, your hours count. MCSR™ credentials the work, not just the title.
Self-reported recertification is the current standard. MCSR™ requires institutional verification of your hours. That distinction is the difference between a credential that means something and one that does not.
Your verified hours don't start today. If you have the records, bring them. Your career did not begin the day you joined the registry.
Digital badge. Employer verification letter. LinkedIn-ready. Put it in your promotion packet. Every salary negotiation. Every contract. Every credentialing committee.
Your MCSR dossier captures more than clinical hours. Log your conference CE, simulation training, and teaching hours in the same verified record. One place. Your complete professional picture.
The MCSR Difference
Cases Tell You How Often. Hours Tell You How Much.
A flat case count treats every procedure as equal. Verified clinical hours preserve the actual time spent managing support—so different practice patterns can be understood in context.
Same Case Count. Different Clinical Exposure.
Three clinicians each complete 100 CPB cases.
Shorter-case practice
Reference example
Longer-case practice
The case count is identical. The documented time behind the pump differs by more than twofold.
*The 95-minute average is a reference drawn from selected CABG literature; it is not a universal professional standard, full-time threshold, or competency measure.
Different Case Counts. Nearly the Same Annual Exposure.
Different clinical patterns can produce comparable verified hours.
Higher-volume, shorter cases
Reference example
Lower-volume, longer cases
Different paths. Nearly the same documented annual pump exposure.
*The 95-minute average is a reference drawn from selected CABG literature; it is not a universal professional standard, full-time threshold, or competency measure.
Neither case count nor average duration tells the whole story by itself. MCSR records the actual minutes associated with each clinical entry, together with role, modality, and recency. That creates a more complete and portable record of clinical exposure without treating hours as a measure of competency.
Illustrative examples. The 95-minute value is a reference drawn from selected CABG literature and is not a universal professional standard, full-time threshold, or competency measure. Actual recorded time always prevails.
This is your clinical currency — every documented minute is proof of the experience you carry with you.
CPB is the starting example. MCSR maintains separate tracks for CPB, ECMO, NRP, and VAD experience. Modality-specific reference frameworks will be added only as supporting evidence matures.
Built by a Clinician. For the Clinicians in the Room.
The credential the field has been missing.
MCSR™ was founded by Anthony G. Shackelford, DHA, MHA, CCP, CCT — a practicing perfusionist at the Medical University of South Carolina with more than 35 years of clinical experience, including 24 years at MUSC.
With a Doctor of Health Administration (DHA) and a Master of Health Administration (MHA) — graduate preparation in healthcare administration and leadership — and dual board certification, Dr. Shackelford recognized an unmet need: clinicians delivering MCS care every day had no dedicated framework to document, verify, and carry that clinical experience across their careers.
MCSR™ was designed to complement the credentials clinicians already hold — adding a verified record of clinical experience to everything else they've earned.
"Your board certification says you are qualified.
MCSR™ documents how you have practiced.
Published Editorial
"Finding 'Time' for Recertification"
An examination of how documented clinical time — the hours spent directly caring for patients — represents a measurable and underutilized dimension of professional competency in cardiovascular perfusion.
Anthony G. Shackelford, DHA, MHA, CCP, CCT
The Journal of ExtraCorporeal Technology · Vol. 57, No. 3 · September 2025
What MCSR™ Verifies
NOT a replacement for
A complement to the credentials you already hold — not a substitute for any of them.
The Process
How It Works
Four steps. Every case builds your record forward — or backward. Backfill eligible from your first logged case.
★ Backfill Eligible — Start from your very first case and work forward. Your history counts.
The Core Credentials
Four Platforms. One Standard.
Each MCSR™ credential represents verified, documented hours. Not a course completion. Not self-reported attestation. Verified hours caring for patients who needed you there.
Whether you manage the circuit, run the bedside, direct medical care, or perform the procedure — if you were in that room, your hours count.
For perfusionists managing cardiopulmonary bypass.
For clinicians managing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation — VA-ECMO, VV-ECMO, neonatal, and pediatric.
For clinicians participating in normothermic regional perfusion organ preservation protocols.
For clinicians managing patients on ventricular assist devices — acute, bridge, and destination therapy.
One Registry. Many Disciplines. Defined Roles. Verified Experience.
A clinician may log hours across multiple platforms. Each is recorded independently and accurately.
Registry Benefits
What Members Receive
Documented, verified hours across four clinical tracks.
Log continuing education and simulation hours in one record.
Your dossier belongs to you — not your employer.
Member number, status, and verification level on every report.
This Is What You're Building
Every Minute Counts
| Track | Prior Years | Current Year | Lifetime Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| VCH™ Verified CPB Hours | 3,842 hrs | 47 hrs | 3,889 hrs |
| VEH™ Verified ECMO Hours | 486 hrs | 22 hrs | 508 hrs |
| VNH™ Verified NRP Hours | 174 hrs | 8 hrs | 182 hrs |
| VVH™ Verified VAD Hours | 921 hrs | 31 hrs | 952 hrs |
Sample record shown. Your dossier builds from your first logged case forward.
The patient comes first.
Your Clinical Dossier
Yours wherever you go.
The MCSR™ is not tied to your employer. It is not held by a board. It belongs to you — a permanent, portable record of the clinical experience you earned, verified and ready to go wherever your career takes you.
Independent. Portable. Clinician-Owned.
Integrity
The Integrity Standard
- Time is documented in minutes.
- Entries must be accurate.
- All submitted records are subject to audit under MCSR Registry Standards.
- Verification follows MCSR Registry Standards.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know.
You've already done the work.
This is where it goes on the record.
Every time you care for a patient on mechanical circulatory support, you earn verified hours. Quantified. Documented. Yours to keep. Backfill eligible from your very first case.
Learn more about Student Access →
Pricing
Founding Member Rate
Annual Membership
Billed $120 / year.
All four registry tracks included.
Plus Simulation Hours and CE Log.
Your professional clinical record. Built one minute at a time.
Become a Founding Member — $120/yearFounding members lock in the $120 annual rate ($10/month). Locks in for life.
Billed once at $24.
For students in perfusion school — up to two years.