Maeve Geary, BDes, to our knowledge, is the first PhD candidate to specialize in medical special effects simulation. A native of Belfast, Ireland, she completed a Bachelor of Design degree in Special Effects Development at the University of Bolton (Manchester, England). She has been with Boston Children’s Hospital’s Simulator Program, SIMPeds, since April 2016. At SIMPeds, she has contributed to a variety of custom “trainers” and is exploring whether increasing the realistic look and feel of mannequins impacts training and trainees’ ability to learn. Recently, she led the development of a trainer for urinary catheterization in infants — complete with visually and haptically accurate genitals, urethral opening and fat rolls.

It’s now apparent that treating medical mannequins with greater visual and haptic realism makes medical simulation training more effective for clinicians. Moulage, or special effects makeup, is an important part of making simulations feel real.

Here’s a quick tutorial in some very basic effects achieved with simple, readily available drugstore ingredients. Although much of my research is on complex fabrication techniques adapted from the film and television industry, these techniques are simple and accessible to all. (If you’re in Boston, attend our live demos this week!) …