The idea of a claim syllabus grew from the educational practices that help students navigate an unfamiliar course with confidence. A claim syllabus should answer the questions occupying the employee’s mind during the opening days of the claim. The claim syllabus also functions as a living document because recovery rarely follows a perfectly straight line. A claim syllabus creates a common reference point for those expectations and reduces the friction caused by competing assumptions. A claim syllabus gives the injured employee a sense of sequence while preserving flexibility for the realities of recovery.