Completed Event: Women's Lacrosse at #4 Florida on May 15, 2025 , Loss , 9, to, 11
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Final
Women's Lacrosse
9
at #4 Florida
11
DWL Alumni Spotlight: Kim Imbesi
4/13/2020 12:30:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
Kim Imbesi graduated from Duke in 2009 after being the last line of the Duke defense her sophomore, junior and senior seasons. Imbesi was a wall in front of the cage for Duke, helping the Blue Devils reach three NCAA Tournament Semifinals throughout her career. As a goalie, she recorded 467 career saves, placing her fourth all-time at Duke. After graduating from Duke, Imbesi went on to become an emergency medicine physician. Currently, she is living and practicing in Colorado. Check out what Imbesi is up to, how COVID-19 has affected her work and some of her favorite memories as a Blue Devil below…
Q+A with Kim:
Q: What did you do after Duke and where are you now?
Imbesi: After playing at Duke, I stayed for Duke med and then I went to Penn and did my residency at UPenn. Then my wife got a job in Portland so we went out there. In the last year we made a career move and a life move to move to Colorado. We have been here almost a complete year and it has been great.
Q: What is your current occupation?
Imbesi: I work for a company called CarePoint Health. It is a company that staffs most emergency medicine doctors but also has neurology and internal medicine outpost. It's an independent company owned by doctors. You get through your work for them and if you are doing well and help them out then you can make partner and buy in to the company.
Q: How has COVID-19 affected you in the workplace?
Imbesi: Our "typical" shift right now, we have designated areas to enter the hospital because everyone has to get their temperature checked before they enter. If you are an employee and you have a fever you get sent home. If you pass that temperature check you get handed a mask and you put the mask on to even walk through the hallways right now. After walking in the department I get my select, few PPE (personal protective equipment) that I have bought myself, not because my company has run out of PPE so far but just in case I need something they don't have in a moment. We go and wipe down our entire stations, everything – the computer, keyboard, mouse, phone, anything that will go near your face. Then, I personally wear an N-95 mask so I take the mask I was given off and put the N-95 on my face then put the surgical mask over my N-95, I have eye protection and have hair protection to prevent anything from attaching to my head. Then you start your shift!
Q: Do you have any fun hobbies to help relieve stress during this time?
Imbesi: Well, I have a five-month-old daughter. That has really helped me escape. Her world hasn't really changed at all. My wife is working on the front lines, she is a pediatric emergency medicine doctor. As far as my daughter knows, we both still go to work and we both still come home. Our home routine is a little different because we shower and change clothes before we touch her. But watching her develop day-to-day and watching her be so blissfully happy and naive about the situation has been a huge way to relieve stress for me. Being able to lose myself in her and being a mom having a baby to play with has been great.
Q: What is your favorite athletic memory?
Imbesi: We have a lot of really good memories. One of my favorite games was probably my junior year (2008) when we played Maryland at Maryland in the NCAA Tournament to make it to the Final Four. Maryland was definitely the better team that year but we were scrappy and hungry and it was a little bit of a surprise to win, but not really because we worked hard, studied and prepared. But that game in particular, even though we had been to the Final Four the two previous years, there was something about making it to the Final Four that year because it was just that much harder and that was really awesome.
Q: What was one thing that you picked up or did following your athletic career?
Imbesi: My workouts have changed throughout, but I still love group workouts. It is harder to get when you become an adult and you are not practicing with a team anymore. I really enjoy things like spin class, when you are in a class with other people and you are encouraging each other and it feels more like a group workout than an individual workout. I enjoy those types of things. It brings me back to being in the weight room and yelling encouragement to my teammates across the room.
Q: Is there a phrase or advice you value most from Coach Kerstin?
Imbesi: The overarching phrase that has persisted and is still used: DukeLaxLove. I mentioned this to Kerstin the other day, I really do feel for the girls that lost their senior season, it is terrible and I am sure it is soul-crushing for them. Eventually as they have more years of life they will look back and understand and it will sting a little bit less.
Q: If you could go back in time to the beginning of your freshman year, what is one piece of advice you would tell yourself?
Imbesi: I would probably tell myself to be a little less hard on myself in terms of individual games and plays, to be a little forgiving. But that persistence and mentality has helped me in my professional life so maybe that is not the best response. I probably would have just told myself to slow down. Those four years go by so fast, they fly by. But, I'm not sure I even do that now so it is hard advice to follow.
Q: What does it mean to you to be an alumna of Duke Women's Lacrosse?
Imbesi: The bond that we establish on that team and the group of special girls that Kerstin brings together every year, it just lasts forever. I am in contact with every girl in my class. Even through this pandemic, we have been checking in on each other and making sure everyone is doing well. That bond, 11 years out, is way more special than one individual year on the field. That's what the current girls will have despite this year being taken away from them and that is the really special part about Duke lacrosse and Kerstin in particular. She forges those bonds and helps to teach us that is what is important, not individual games or seasons, rather it is a lifetime of friendship and support that we are building. That is something that will last beyond the pandemic which these girls will come to appreciate, maybe not right now but as they get older.
#GoDuke
Q+A with Kim:
Q: What did you do after Duke and where are you now?
Imbesi: After playing at Duke, I stayed for Duke med and then I went to Penn and did my residency at UPenn. Then my wife got a job in Portland so we went out there. In the last year we made a career move and a life move to move to Colorado. We have been here almost a complete year and it has been great.
Q: What is your current occupation?
Imbesi: I work for a company called CarePoint Health. It is a company that staffs most emergency medicine doctors but also has neurology and internal medicine outpost. It's an independent company owned by doctors. You get through your work for them and if you are doing well and help them out then you can make partner and buy in to the company.
Q: How has COVID-19 affected you in the workplace?
Imbesi: Our "typical" shift right now, we have designated areas to enter the hospital because everyone has to get their temperature checked before they enter. If you are an employee and you have a fever you get sent home. If you pass that temperature check you get handed a mask and you put the mask on to even walk through the hallways right now. After walking in the department I get my select, few PPE (personal protective equipment) that I have bought myself, not because my company has run out of PPE so far but just in case I need something they don't have in a moment. We go and wipe down our entire stations, everything – the computer, keyboard, mouse, phone, anything that will go near your face. Then, I personally wear an N-95 mask so I take the mask I was given off and put the N-95 on my face then put the surgical mask over my N-95, I have eye protection and have hair protection to prevent anything from attaching to my head. Then you start your shift!
Q: Do you have any fun hobbies to help relieve stress during this time?
Imbesi: Well, I have a five-month-old daughter. That has really helped me escape. Her world hasn't really changed at all. My wife is working on the front lines, she is a pediatric emergency medicine doctor. As far as my daughter knows, we both still go to work and we both still come home. Our home routine is a little different because we shower and change clothes before we touch her. But watching her develop day-to-day and watching her be so blissfully happy and naive about the situation has been a huge way to relieve stress for me. Being able to lose myself in her and being a mom having a baby to play with has been great.
Q: What is your favorite athletic memory?
Imbesi: We have a lot of really good memories. One of my favorite games was probably my junior year (2008) when we played Maryland at Maryland in the NCAA Tournament to make it to the Final Four. Maryland was definitely the better team that year but we were scrappy and hungry and it was a little bit of a surprise to win, but not really because we worked hard, studied and prepared. But that game in particular, even though we had been to the Final Four the two previous years, there was something about making it to the Final Four that year because it was just that much harder and that was really awesome.
Q: What was one thing that you picked up or did following your athletic career?
Imbesi: My workouts have changed throughout, but I still love group workouts. It is harder to get when you become an adult and you are not practicing with a team anymore. I really enjoy things like spin class, when you are in a class with other people and you are encouraging each other and it feels more like a group workout than an individual workout. I enjoy those types of things. It brings me back to being in the weight room and yelling encouragement to my teammates across the room.
Q: Is there a phrase or advice you value most from Coach Kerstin?
Imbesi: The overarching phrase that has persisted and is still used: DukeLaxLove. I mentioned this to Kerstin the other day, I really do feel for the girls that lost their senior season, it is terrible and I am sure it is soul-crushing for them. Eventually as they have more years of life they will look back and understand and it will sting a little bit less.
Q: If you could go back in time to the beginning of your freshman year, what is one piece of advice you would tell yourself?
Imbesi: I would probably tell myself to be a little less hard on myself in terms of individual games and plays, to be a little forgiving. But that persistence and mentality has helped me in my professional life so maybe that is not the best response. I probably would have just told myself to slow down. Those four years go by so fast, they fly by. But, I'm not sure I even do that now so it is hard advice to follow.
Q: What does it mean to you to be an alumna of Duke Women's Lacrosse?
Imbesi: The bond that we establish on that team and the group of special girls that Kerstin brings together every year, it just lasts forever. I am in contact with every girl in my class. Even through this pandemic, we have been checking in on each other and making sure everyone is doing well. That bond, 11 years out, is way more special than one individual year on the field. That's what the current girls will have despite this year being taken away from them and that is the really special part about Duke lacrosse and Kerstin in particular. She forges those bonds and helps to teach us that is what is important, not individual games or seasons, rather it is a lifetime of friendship and support that we are building. That is something that will last beyond the pandemic which these girls will come to appreciate, maybe not right now but as they get older.
#GoDuke
Kerstin Kimel James Madison Postgame Press Conference 5-9
Friday, May 09
Kerstin Kimel Media Availability 5-7
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Kerry Nease Media Availability 5-7
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Madison Beale Media Availability 5-7
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