Campus Bookstore Sells Local Cardiovascular Surgeon’s Memoir Detailing Charity Hospital
Charity's Children: The Long Days and Nights of the Iron Man tells the story of local cardiovascular surgeon Dr. James Ciaravella’s training, from
his internship through his year as chief resident at Charity Hospital.
Dr. Ciaravella received his medical degree from Tulane Medical School in 1968. Following
a surgery internship at Charity Hospital (1968-1969), he completed his general surgery
and cardiovascular surgical residency in 1977. He served as chief resident on the
Tulane Surgical Service and as Assistant Clinical Director at Charity from 1976-1977.
Following training at Charity Hospital he was accepted to a special fellowship in
cardiac surgery at the Mayo Clinic.
According to Amazon’s book summary, the story is set in the early days of cardiac
surgery - the late 1960s through 1970s, when today's technology was not yet available.
Dr. Ciaravella recounts his life, from the lowest-level intern performing round-the-clock
tasks and duties to his later role as teacher with the life-and-death responsibilities.
Initially, Ciaravella wanted only to document the many "only at Charity" stories that
he had been involved with or that had been passed down from his Charity-trained surgeon
father. However, he also interviewed 30 of his contemporaries who were either chief
residents when he was an intern or now-practicing surgeons who were interns or junior
residents when he was chief resident, including Chancellor Dr. Larry Hollier. The
early history of Charity is chronicled, as are the professors who significantly impacted
his life and his training. He describes in detail several major events that rocked
the city of New Orleans, and details how they impacted Charity Hospital with never-before-told
eye witness accounts of sacrifice and dedication.
The book is available for purchase at the LSU Health Sciences Center bookstore and
other retailers nationwide.
