Medical student's art piece featured on Physiatry in Motion cover

Isabella Dinelli holds a copy of Physiatry in Motion featuring her artwork on the cover.

A medical student's artwork is featured on the cover of the Association of Academic Physiatrists (AAP) Physiatry in Motion's summer 2025 issue. Inspired by a hike in a botanical garden in the rain, fourth-year medical student Isabella Dinelli created the art piece titled “Across” in Procreate. 

Physical medicine and rehabilitation, or physiatry, is a medical specialty focused on restoring function and improving quality of life for patients with injuries or illnesses affecting the brain, spinal cord, nerves, bones, joints or muscles. 

The first page of the magazine includes Dinelli's description of the piece: “It reflects the idea that sometimes a single step in the rehabilitation journey can feel as impossible as walking on water. With resilience, we conquer what we once thought was beyond our reach and accomplish things we once thought were impossible. The work symbolizes perseverance, forward motion, and accomplishing the seemingly impossible, merging the serenity of nature with the determination at the heart of rehabilitation medicine.”

Dinelli, who is president of the Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Interest Group, is applying to physical medicine and rehabilitation residency programs. 

The AAP's mission is to empower academic physiatrists to advance the science of physical medicine and rehabilitation, educate leaders of the future, and champion physiatry to transform healthcare. Physiatry in Motion is a quarterly publication created by the AAP’s Resident/Fellow Council.