Josie Guyer, born Josie Everaardt, has been named the 'NSW/ACT GP in Training of the Year' by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.

Dr Guyer, who grew up in Wagga, said she was overwhelmed and humbled to receive the award with just two weeks to go before her final medical exams.

"I think I'd really like to encourage others to believe in themselves and have a go at something, because if I can do it, others can do it as well," she said.

Dr Guyer, who now works at the Myhealth clinic in Sydney's Liverpool, was a 38-year-old nurse with three children when she started her path into medicine.

"It wasn't easy, but with lots of support, I was able to do it. And I think that's the best, the biggest way that we can close the gap - is to get more Aboriginal people working in health care," she said.

She originally studied nursing at Charles Sturt University after completing her HSC at Mount Austin High School and went on to work in Sydney.

"I guess I was looking for a bit of a challenge and a change. And I stumbled across the new medical degree [at Western Sydney University], and thought I could give it a bit of a go," she said.

"I'd really sort of seen a lot of my family struggle with chronic illness as Aboriginal people as well ... and so I wanted to make a bit more of a difference too in helping Aboriginal people particularly improve their health."

Dr Guyer is the daughter of the late Penny Everaardt, who spent part of her childhood in the Cootamundra Girls Home as a member of the Stolen Generations and became a widely respected Wagga Aboriginal Elder.

It was only last year that Penny shared with her daughter she too had wanted to be a nurse, an early dream which was stopped by racism at the Cootamundra hospital in the 1950s.

"What Mum went through has inspired me and made me sort of extra proud of myself," Dr Guyer said. "It just makes me really proud that as a country, we are moving forward. There's still a long way to go."

Dr Guyer, an accomplished Aboriginal medical educator and mentor, said her identity as a Wiradjuri woman and mother informed her practice as a doctor.

"I think it's really helpful to have that life experience, but to also have that different level of empathy for people," she said.

She shared a message for any young Aboriginal people living in Wagga: "Set goals for yourself, believe in yourself. And you can do it, people before you have done it, and so you can do it too."