Online comic tells the story of today's veterinarian

ARDMORE, PA. — Amanda Brown is a 29-year-old associate veterinarian with an affinity for coffee. She can't seem to find the right man, please her mother or carve out enough time with her friends. Should we even talk about the mountains of student debt and frustrating interactions with clients?

Does Amanda sound familiar? She should, because Amanda is in a position similar to many new veterinary graduates — young, female, broke and trying to find her way in the profession.

Mirror images: They may not be the same person, but there are many similarities between Hillary Israeli, VMD, and her cat Kaspar (above) and Amanda Brown, DVM, and her cat Carpark (below).

The only difference between Amanda and the young female majority is that she doesn't really exist. But to many, Amanda Brown, a fictional online character created by Hillary Israeli, VMD, and Phillip Barnes, is a mirror image and a release to let them laugh a little at their own situation.

"I see Amanda not so much as a mentor but more as a reflection," says Israeli, who provides the stories that play out in Amanda's life on the Web series "Generation Vet." "I hope people see themselves in her and relate to her, even if they don't quite fit her demographic."

Nearly 40 herself with a husband and three children, Israeli is older than Amanda's demographic. But it wasn't so long ago that she, too, faced the challenges of being a young, female veterinarian in a world with many male-owned practices. Luckily, Israeli says, she worked for a practice owner who was flexible and let her try doing things her own way.

Remembering her first difficult cases, like the ones Amanda is faced with, Israeli says young veterinarians often struggle with putting themselves out there as professionals. Being wrong in a diagnosis from time to time is a given for a new veterinarian but can be devastating, she says.

The new wave: "The folks who are ­inheriting the ­industry, it's their story, and it's ­different from the story that's been told for the last 30 years," says "Generation Vet" illustrator Phillip Barnes.

"If you're wrong, it could be crushing, and you feel so embarrassed," she says.

Seeing Amanda go through the same pitfalls might help young graduates cope while they learn the ropes of their new profession, as well as help older veterinarians remember what it was like to be in new DVMs' shoes.

"When you come out of vet school, and you're owing this huge amount of money, and there are not a lot of jobs out there, and they're not paying as well as you may have hoped, you might need to have a laugh and see someone poking fun at a situation like the one you're in," Israeli says. "These stories are universal and, to me, it's really just presenting them in a fresher way with a more modern perspective.

"People keep asking if Amanda is me. She's obviously not me, but we certainly have a similar client base and Starbucks addiction," Israeli laughs. "If anybody is helped in any way by this project, I would be overjoyed."

With four episodes under her belt, Israeli is dreaming up new challenges for Amanda to face. Already, she has dealt with a mother who doesn't understand her hectic schedule, finding a work-life balance, having time for romance, and patients who just can't follow instructions — not to mention her adoption of Carpark, a cat left in her clinic's parking lot. Finding a job and worrying about whether it was the right decision are all topics confronting Amanda. Other conflicts might involve finding time for continuing education, dealing with patients who are used to the "old" doctor, and what to do when she might want to order a different kind of product than the clinic owner.

The Web episodes, available to watch for free at www.youtube.com/amandabrowndvm, run about two minutes in length and play out like a comic book. All the illustration is done by Barnes, who is trained as a graphic designer and now works as a social media specialist for Wedgewood Pharmacy.

"We really want to tell the story of today's up-and-coming generation of veterinarians, the folks who are inheriting the industry," Barnes says. "It's their story, and it's different from the story that's been told for the last 30 years or more."

Both Barnes and Israeli have gotten a lot of positive feedback on the series from veterinarians of all ages and, as a result, are making their series more regular. The first part of a two-part episode was set to "air" on YouTube Jan. 15, with its second part set for Feb. 15. More than 100 "fans" follow Amanda's life on Facebook at www.generationvet.com, and more than 300 followers keep track of her at www.twitter.com/amandabrowndvm.

Israeli graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1992 with a bachelor of arts in dramatic arts before earning her VMD from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. She works at Ivens-Bronstein Veterinary Hospital in Ardmore, Pa., and lives in southwestern Pennsylvania with her husband, three children, Norwegian forest cat and six hermit crabs.