2013-06-01
Explanation
This comic depicts a psychiatry student practicing therapy on a medical cadaver (a dead body used for medical training). The student, dressed formally and holding notes, says to the corpse lying on a couch: "Look, we can just sit here in silence if you want, but thats not what youre paying me for, Mr. Henderson. Thats not what youre... God... Im sorry, does this really help with training?" The caption below reads: "It turns out that psychiatry students dont have much use for medical cadavers."
The humor comes from the absurd scenario of applying one medical training tradition (practicing on cadavers, which is standard for surgeons and anatomists) to a field where it is completely useless -- psychiatry, which is entirely based on talking to living patients. The students growing frustration at the silence of the corpse highlights the fundamental mismatch. The joke also plays on the classic therapy trope of awkward silences between therapist and patient.
The votey extends the joke with the student complaining, "I mean, this corpse doesnt even have a wallet!" This adds another layer: not only is the cadaver useless for practicing conversation, it cannot even pay for the session -- a humorous jab at the transactional nature of therapy.