Table 3.

Participants’ responses to questions regarding their perceptions of their experiences that related to “Affective support”

Affective support is provided a warm an inclusive learning environment.
Tutee responses
The peer tutoring program provided a formal means for students to interact	“It's nice, as a first year, to go to an organised event outside RPA, and to walk in and know people from other years….and actually be able to have conversations.. to actually know them by name”.
	“Last year my only interaction with third and fourth years was doing our mock OSCE. This was a way to get to know the older years”.
Tutees perceived tutors to be proactive and welcoming	“Tutors were getting in contact with their group, saying, do you want to have extra sessions, is there anything else I can help you out with? Just being proactive about that, is really good”.
Tutors were approachable	“I felt really comfortable asking my tutor anything. And he'd reply happily so it's cool”.
Students felt comfortable asking their senior peers questions	“You could ask them questions second years can’t answer because we don’t know. But you don’t want to ask an intern or a doctor that question because that seems inappropriate. So it’s a perfect median-like way and they can just give you a straight answer. Like picking your rotations for third year or things like that, they give you tips. That was really useful”.
Tutor responses
A sense of community was fostered through the peer tutoring program	“It's kind of nice to foster a little bit of community throughout the year levels”.
Tutors enjoyed teaching and developed confidence to teach in the future	“I definitely would now be much more happy to teach people because I had a good time and it wasn’t as stressful as I thought it would be”.
	“It was a real pleasure to teach people who were all there voluntarily and really wanted to learn”.