What should you have in your little black bag? A letter to a young doctor.

Rather than looking at which instruments to put in the traditional physician's black bag, the changing face of medicine suggests that some virtual assets assume prime importance. With a solid background of core knowledge and skills acquired through medical school but continuously developed and updated, several habitual attitudes are advocated-each aiming to address a different facet of concerns in today's time-constrained, often impersonal, fast-changing, information-overloaded, and highly technological practice. They include humility, curiosity, "red flag" identification, and reflexive database consultation-each with myriad, diverse advantages.