One-liner
Formal Definition
A single-sentence patient summary that encapsulates the patient's key demographics, chief complaint, acute presentation, and relevant background — used to orient any listener instantly.
How It's Used on the Ward
"Give me a one-liner" — the attending wants a concise framing before the full presentation.
Example
""'Mr. Garcia is a 67-year-old with ESRD on HD, CAD, and DM2 presenting with 12 hours of crushing substernal chest pain and a new LBBB on EKG.' That's a one-liner — history comes after.""
Clinical Context
The one-liner is the most important sentence in any oral presentation. It primes the listener's differential before you give details. A weak one-liner ("a 67-year-old with multiple medical problems presenting with chest pain") buries the diagnosis. A strong one-liner makes the problem obvious. Practice leading with the most discriminating details.