There is a general understanding that many medical conditions are caused by factors present in the natural or artificial environment. Environmental health programs intend to prepare students to investigate these correlations and provide insights based on these systematic investigations.

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the western most point of Eurasia, Europe is usually divided from Asia by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting the Black and Aegean Seas.