Vegan chocolate chip oatmeal scones

During this gap year of mine, I decided to do a mental health unit for my Masters of Nursing degree which I had started in 2012 before I got accepted into medicine. Today was orientation day at the community hospital that I was assigned to and during orientation, one of the nurses said two things that really resonated in me. 

Firstly, we were talking about how confronting some of the group sessions can be. Apparently a lot of the stories and often traumatic experiences that they share can make you quite emotional and even cry in some circumstances. The nurse then said to us that if we were cry, it wouldn't be a bad thing because it is a reminder that we are still human and by feeling emotional, it means we still see these clients as people rather than just labelling them by what condition they have. 

I hope that throughout my career in medicine I never forget that it is a person I am treating, and not just signs and symptoms. 

The second thing that the nurse said to the other nursing students and I was that we shouldn't get used to the idea of never studying again after we graduate. She said that by pursuing research or further postgraduate study it keeps you up-to-date with the new changes in the medical world and from this we will keep asking questions and finding new answers. It is through further study and research that new passions can be found or existing passions can be fuelled; and when you are passionate, you enjoy your career more. 

My undergrad friends and I used to joke a lot that once we gradated from uni, we'd be so happy to rid ourselves of study; but what the nurse said today has made we turn a new leaf. I know that medical training will be very long, but I'm not going to run this race with the idea that I can burn all my books at the finish line. No, I will happily embrace the fact that there will be more study and more research...probably all the way until retirement; because the world needs research and all it's findings, and I need something to be passionate about.

So now, let me get to my something new for today. While on prac today, the nurses brought out some scones for morning and afternoon tea and I felt the cravings start to kick in. I had come across a great vegan scone recipe last month from the site One Small Vegan. It was a recipe for blueberry oatmeal scones, and yes they were delicious. 

I'm a bit iffy about recipes that use coconut oil because it's very high in saturated fat (the bad kind) and I like to avoid using ingredients high in bad fats and sugars. I always find it better to use a healthier substitute. But in this particular case I decided to adopt the YOLO way of life and just use the coconut oil. 

Seeing as I liked the blueberry scones so much, I decided to make choc-chip scones this time round. All I did was swap the cup of blueberries for 1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips and I left out the lemon zest (because I didn't have any lemons to be honest). Also, if you don't have applesauce, just puree some fresh apples :)