More career changers are moving into health care these days, because the field remains largely recession-proof due to the aging population and a health-care overhaul that is poised to add millions of Americans to the system.

Those who enter the health field do so for many reasons, but a common one is a desire todo good while also making a good income. Many say they have been inspired to go into the field because of care they have received.

To get the pulse of why more people are switching to careers in health care, we spoke to students at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, an academic affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital. The institute offers a number of graduate-level programs that attract career changers because the school requires only a bachelor’s degree in any field for admittance. Prospective students do not need a background in science. Students gear up by taking summer science prerequisite courses at the institute that vary according to the fields in which they plan to specialize.

“It’s amazing how many people are coming here from other careers, where many were not happy at all,” says Gregory Lof, program director of MGH institute’s graduate program in communications science and disorders.

“I didn’t want to sit behind a desk,” says Gretchen Kilbourne of Duxbury, who worked as a paralegal and sales manager before entering the school’s accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program in May. Kilbourne was a member of the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team, which she joined in 2003, a year before her graduation from Princeton.

“I’m a hands-on person and excited about being out in the world and helping people,” adds Kilbourne, who says she chose nursing after giving birth to her two children, now 13 months and 2 years old.

Kilbourne says she’s drawn to psychiatric nursing, partly from living through a difficult period after she was cut from the U.S. hockey team just before the 2004 Olympics.

cw-3 “I was devastated, and it took me some time to come back from that,” she says.

Christina Kang had an entirely different path. The 36-year-old Korean-born woman who emigrated to Los Angeles was an East Asian studies major at the University of Connecticut and went on to get a master’s degree in classical singing there. She performed as a mezzo soprano in concerts in the United States and Europe, until she developed a problem with her voice. Inspired by the speech pathologist who treated her, Kang decided to pursue the field, enrolling in a two-year speech pathology program at the institute, planning to become a voice-disorder specialist.

“I think this will be a better life than chasing stages all over the world,” says Kang, who in her first year is already fielding inquiries from job recruiters. “I’m finding this to be great for mind, body and soul - and it also promises to be financially lucrative. Helping kids with dyslexia is emotionally fulfilling, and I can’t wait to work with singers, announcers and others who use their voices professionally.”

A big advantage of the institute’s programs is the focus on clinical placements, which gets students out working with patients after only a few weeks in their respective programs.

“You learn theory and get to apply it immediately,” Kang says.

Getting out into clinical settings can even change career changers’ minds. Mary Ellen Graham, a 45-year-old retired Rhode Island police officer now living in Hingham, completed the 17-month medical-imaging program at the institute, intending to become an X-ray technician - but decided that she really wanted to become a nurse. So she enrolled in the nursing program two days after getting her X-ray technician certificate.

“I knew I wanted to be in health care, but I made a mistake and realized that I really wanted to be a nurse,” Graham says. “Nursing allows you to follow a patient and see progress.”

A clinical stint at the inpatient psychiatric ward at Faulkner Hospital made a strong impression on her.

“Dealing with the mentally ill from the police side was most often negative,” Graham adds. “But from my first day on a psych ward I saw the recovery side and said to myself ‘this is what I want to do.’ ”