Moulage
Moulage is the use of makeup, molds, attachable props, and smells to simulate injury, disease, aging, or other physical findings on a standardized patient or a manikin. The SSH Healthcare Simulation Dictionary describes moulage as supporting the sensory perceptions of participants and the fidelity of the scenario, so a learner sees and smells what the case says is there instead of being told about it.
Source: Society for Simulation in Healthcare, Healthcare Simulation Dictionary
Moulage exists because a described finding and a visible finding produce different behavior. A learner who is told the wound looks infected will nod and move on, while a learner who sees and smells it changes the order in which they act. That is the argument for moulage, and it is also the limit of it, because the effort is justified when a physical finding drives a decision in the case and wasted when the finding is decoration.
The craft runs from a smear of theatrical blood through to silicone prosthetics cast from molds, and the Healthcare Simulation Dictionary traces the word itself to the French for casting or molding. Most programs settle on a small kit of reusable wound pieces and a short recipe list, because rebuilding a burn from scratch before every session is what makes moulage quietly expensive in staff time rather than in materials. Skill matters more than budget here, since a well-placed bruise from a cheap palette reads better than an elaborate prosthetic applied in the wrong anatomical place.
Moulage belongs to the SP or the manikin rather than to the conversation, and that distinction matters because the two halves of a simulation program scale differently. A wound has to be applied by a person in a room, so any station that depends on moulage stays tied to the physical center and its calendar. Communication practice does not carry that constraint, so programs increasingly keep their scarce physical simulation time for the findings that genuinely have to be seen, smelled, or touched.
What this looks like in a program
- Moulage earns its setup time when the finding changes a decision, such as a pressure injury that has to be staged or a rash that rules a diagnosis in or out.
- Application happens per learner, so moulage stations cap the throughput of an OSCE day more tightly than talk-only stations do.
Related terms
Last updated August 2026