Application Review & Strategy
Judgment. Strategy. Direction.
Since 2008, I’ve worked with applicants pursuing U.S. medical residency who need clear
answers about where their application stands—and what to do next. This service provides
a rigorous, strategic assessment of your application, identifies liabilities and gaps, and
lays out concrete steps to strengthen your candidacy before you apply or reapply.
How Application Review & Strategy Works
This service centers on a structured, one-on-one consultation focused on diagnosing your application and defining a clear strategy for moving forward.
I begin by reviewing your full application record—including your CV or ERAS application, personal statement(s), MSPE (if available), letters of recommendation, test scores, and relevant background information. I assess your application the same way residency program directors do: by identifying liabilities, omissions, and mismatches between your profile and the programs you are pursuing.
From that review, I focus on two core questions:
1. What is working against you?
I identify red flags, weaknesses, or areas that raise concern for program directors. For each issue, I outline concrete steps you can take to change how
that issue appears in your application—through additional experiences, documentation, timing, positioning, or narrative strategy.
2. What is missing or underdeveloped?
I assess where your application lacks depth, balance, or certain experiences and identify specific ways to strengthen it. This may involve clinical experience,
research, volunteering, academic development, and program-selection strategy.
The result is a clear, prioritized strategy tailored to your circumstances, constraints, and goals. You leave the consultation knowing what to fix and how to fix it, including what to stop doing and what to focus on next—rather than guessing or repeating past mistakes.
This service does not involve editing documents or interview preparation. It provides clarity, direction, and a strategic path forward for applicants seeking U.S. medical residency.
Application Review & Strategy Services
This is a one-on-one, consultation-based service designed for applicants seeking U.S. medical residency who need clarity, direction, and a concrete plan for moving forward.
Application Review & Strategy focuses on diagnosis and decision-making. The goal is to identify exactly where your application stands, how residency program directors are likely to evaluate it, and what actions will most improve your chances of matching.
What the Service Includes
One-on-One Strategy Consultation
You meet with me directly for a focused consultation centered on your full application and specific circumstances.
During the consultation, I:
- Review your application materials in detail, including:
- CV or ERAS application
- Personal statement(s)
- MSPE (if available)
- Letters of recommendation
- Step/COMLEX scores
- Relevant academic, clinical, and personal background
- Assess strengths, weaknesses, and red flags as residency program directors do
- Identify gaps, liabilities, and misalignments that affect how your application is perceived
- Evaluate whether issues stem from deficiencies, positioning, timing, or strategy
- Provide a clear, prioritized plan of action tailored to your goals and constraints
What You Walk Away With
By the end of the consultation, you have:
- A clear understanding of what is helping or hurting your application
- Specific recommendations for what to fix, what to build, what to stop doing, and what to focus on next
- Practical options for strengthening your application given your timeline, finances, and geographic limitations
- Clarity about which services—or next steps—make sense for you, and which do not
This service replaces uncertainty with direction and prevents applicants from investing time, money, or effort in the wrong places.
Important Scope Notes
- This service does not include editing, revision, proofreading, or interview coaching
- Recommendations focus on strategy, positioning, and next steps—not document changes
- The service applies exclusively to applicants pursuing U.S. medical residency
- Consultations are delivered one-on-one and tailored to your situation
Who I Work With
I work with applicants pursuing U.S. medical residency clear assessment of their application and a grounded strategy for moving forward.
This service is designed for applicants in three primary situations:
Applicants Who Did Not Match
Many applicants come to me after going unmatched and seeking answers they were never given.
I work with applicants who want to understand:
- What worked against them in their prior application cycle
- Which issues raised concern for residency program directors
- What actions would meaningfully change how program directors evaluate their applications next time
For these applicants, the focus is on identifying deficiencies, correcting missteps, and building a strategic, evidence-based plan to reenter the Match with a stronger application.
Applicants Preparing to Apply in a Future Cycle
I also work with applicants who have not yet applied and want to make the most of their upcoming application.
This includes applicants who:
- Are early in the process and planning ahead
- Have competencies or experiences to develop before applying
- Want guidance on which steps to prioritize, along with timing and specialty selection
The goal in these cases is to build the application deliberately to maximize success in the anticipated application cycle.
Applicants Seeking to Reenter Residency
In more complex situations, I work with physicians who were dismissed from residency and are seeking a path back into training.
In these cases, I assess:
- How the dismissal appears to residency program directors
- What documentation, remediation, or positioning is required
- What options exist—and how to pursue them—for reentry into residency
I also provide consultation support in legal and expert-review contexts when appropriate.
When Applicants Work With Me
Applicants work with me when the stakes are high, the margin for error is small, and guessing is not an option. This service is for applicants who want a clear, grounded strategy for succeeding in the residency application process.
Red Flags & Strategic Risk Areas
Applicants with red flags are usually aware of them. The problem is not recognition—it is knowing what specific steps can be taken to overcome or mitigate them and present them in a way that will come across as reasonable, credible and compelling to program directors.
This service focuses on how program directors view the red flags and what steps applicants can take to shift program directors' perceptions of them.
In reviewing applications, I work with applicants on strategies for addressing issues that influence how program directors assess the applicants' fit for their programs, including:
- Low test scores or failed attempts
- Poor academic performance
- Gaps, extensions, or leaves of absence in medical education
- Year of graduation concerns
- Limited or poorly positioned clinical experience
- Lack of U.S. clinical experience
- Professionalism issues or disciplinary actions
- Prior failure to match
- Changes in medical schools
- Dismissal from residency or training disruptions
A red flag can significantly affect an application, sometimes decisively. Its impact depends on context and on how the applicant has assessed and responded to the issue. Program directors look for evidence that the issue has been understood, addressed, and meaningfully improved.
In this service, I focus on:
- Distinguishing between issues that can be mitigated and those that must be explained
- Identifying evidence-based steps that improve how an issue is viewed
- Preventing strategies that create new risk or draw unnecessary attention
- Helping applicants avoid common miscalculations that weaken otherwise viable applications
This work is not about reassurance. It is about clarity, risk assessment, and strategic decision-making grounded in how residency program directors evaluate candidates.
Who You’ll Be Working With
I’m David Lombardino, founder of DLA Editors & Proofers. Since 2008, I’ve worked with applicants navigating some of the most difficult moments in the U.S. medical residency process—including going unmatched, preparing for a future cycle, or seeking a path back into training after dismissal.
This service reflects how I approach application strategy: directly, analytically, and grounded in what residency program directors look for in candidates—and how applicants can show that clearly. I do not offer reassurance or checklist advice. I assess applications for risk, credibility, and fit, and I identify concrete steps applicants can take to improve how program directors evaluate their applications.
Over the years, I’ve reviewed thousands of residency applications across specialties and applicant backgrounds. I recognize the patterns that raise concern, the gaps that weaken otherwise strong candidates, and the actions that meaningfully change how an application is perceived. In complex cases, I’ve also served as an expert consultant and expert witness in matters involving residency dismissal and reentry.
Applicants work with me when they need a clear assessment and a strategy based on judgment, not optimism. My role is to help you understand where your application stands, what program directors are likely to question, and which steps are most likely to improve your position moving forward—given your circumstances, constraints, and goals.
If you’re ready to begin, you can place your order below.
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Ready to Stop Guessing?
If you want a clear, honest assessment of your residency application—and a strategy grounded in how program directors actually evaluate candidates—Application Review & Strategy is the next step.